Building a Home
by EvieVixen
Summary: Creeping up along the web of fine threads, were the drawn eyes of the spider, who waited for the fly to land on her sticky trap. Only it failed to catch it in its poisonous trap. One hundred years later and frustratingly out of place, the spider comes out from the shadows. This time around, it won't miss and its venom will splatter into her enemies veins.
1. Title Page and Author's Note

"Out in the garden where we planted the seeds/ There is a tree as old as me/ Branches were sewn by the color of green/ Ground had arose and passed it's knees/ By the cracks of the skin I climbed to the top/ I climbed the tree to see the world

When the gusts came around to blow me down/ I held on as tightly as you held onto me/ I held on as tightly as you held onto me

And, I built a home  
For you  
For me

Until it disappeared  
From me  
From you

And now, it's time to leave and turn to dust"

\- 'To Build A Home' The Cinematic Orchestra

AN: Ayake Ichiyuko is an original character of my creation while the rest and the majority of the story, of course, belongs to Kubo Tite. I did, however, take a bit of creative license, such as prolonging and mixing up the timeline and creating a new events, to help further the story in my own way. I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.


	2. Chapter 1

The blue-haired arrancar had moved in swiftly; drawing out his sword and telling the orange-haired boy to get prepared for the next blow. In return the boy shuttered, his hand over his eye as he swayed under the force of the light breezes. The orange-head's hand barely grasped on to his sword, just about denting his fingers into the grip of his hilt.

"Tut, tut," she breathed out.

Her sword came out of its sheath, dragging a sharpening sound into the air. Its hilt held tight on the right, whilst the blade tapped three times against the open palm on the left hand before laying to rest on her skin. It rang slightly as it slowly morphed; clasped around her hands and decomposing into a thick, black liquid across the woman's knuckles and then stopping just around the middle of her forearm.

The semi-long gloves that cuddled up, hardened along her skin and lengthened from her fingers. The sinewy black forms edging away from her fingers drew out to thick spikes, which clattered against the bricks on the side of the building below her squatted form. She raised her hands off from her knees, her hands bent over her own wrists as if the spikes she now adorned as fingernails were too heavy for her. With the slightest movement from her wrist, the fingers shot out.

The blue-haired arrancar was paused in front of the orange-haired boy. His sword was raised in a position to slash down, but there was something off. His eyes shot around, and he noticed a tightening grip on his own wrist, and then a tiny knick against his jugular. What was this?

"I hope you're not like those men from Squad 11…. You don't find me interfering too much of an insult do you?"

The black whips tightened around his wrist and pulled him till he was arched backwards, his spine curving awkwardly behind him just so a painful twitch could angrily cry against his back. As he slide his breath back down his throat he felt that same prick from the other spike against his neck. What was this?

The orange-haired boy groaned softly as his vision swam lightly and then latched to the long midnight colored ribbons. His eyes traveled up along the ropes and to the female sat on top of a building at least five meters away. Even as he stared at her, he couldn't make out her reiatsu that much though he could see as it wisped around each black ribbon. Her body moved over to the right side, still squatted so that her thighs were practically perpendicular to the building, so her left leg now extended out to its full length.

"Squatting sure does make your legs cramp up."

"Who the fuck are you?"

The woman moved over onto her left side not moments later, wringing out her right ankle as she stayed positioned on her left leg. The boy grudgingly, in that moment, marveled at the strength she possessed to stay in a low-level squat as her right leg extended horizontally from her side. Though the lackadaisical breathing that allowed her to keep that nonchalant attitude, according to him, made his teeth clench in a drowned spite for having been saved by a woman who looked as if she wanted to be wrapped up in bed.

Her shoulders moved around as she came back into a crouch, and then a flash from her smile as her teeth protruded out, copying the moonlight's shine. "I don't believe that's what you should be worried about."

"Oh?"

"As far as I am aware, the worst is yet to come for you."

The blue-haired man snorted, and then tugged testing how tightly the wires were wrapped as he barely feel the silk-like texture against his skin. However, the black snakes only dragged him further away from his prey, and he found himself stumbling back against the cement that had come up during the fight. Even more, his fingers were stuck at a half open position as the snakes were pressuring certain tendons in his wrist. There was no way that he would be able to recover his grip enough to take care of the woman.

With an extra grunt, he maneuvered the words from his mouth, "do you see the future then, girlie?"

"I've tended to find that punishments for breaking the rules are by far the worst ones that you can receive."

With that, the woman inched her wrist back and the blue haired man was flown up into space. The air ripped from his chest as he moved around to grab onto something to stop the momentum, but could only grasp the air that was hurdling him further and further away from the scene of his crime.

The orange-haired boy's hand once again came to grip his head, the pulsing sensation beating up against his left eye. His own vision blurred a bit as he watched Grimmjow fly away from him, the long tentacle ribbons unwinding from the man's wrist as it snapped him away. The boy's knees crumbled underneath him and the textured ground dug up into his kneecaps as he breathed out his anger; the pulsing slinking away like a slug across his temple.

"Would that not also be the case this time, Kaname?"

Grimmjow only stopped when he felt the cold compress of Tosen's hand upon his arm and the tightening of the fingers by mere centimeters on his clothing. The blue-haired man stared into the blind man, acknowledging the new presence with a few subtle blinks; coming to terms with the fact that he had been flung straight into a predator by the woman. The pressures of his company had disappeared altogether, and the mission was a failure. His eyes wandered over to the slouching woman, who now tapped her sword up against her shoulder. Her eyes glinted over at him as a slow, sickened smirk elongated over her mouth. Her teeth edging along the line of her lip as she peered up at him, as the irises almost disappeared from her periphery look at him.

"You've always been very apt in your analysis, Ayake."

The woman responded with a flick of her sword, and then sealing it away in her sheath. Kaname and the blue-haired villain vanished from all sight and there was no trace left of them. Her coal eyes switching over to the orange-haired boy that toppled down to the ground as his enemy disappeared from his sight. His form buckled over and his head settled down against the earth. Slinking down, she maneuvered through the fire-escape and onto the street.

As she crossed the distance over to the boy, her fingers weaving through the air, another man joined them and the enemies flickered away. The new, tall, red-head looked around at the scene, taking in the upturned streets, the bent lamp-posts, the downtrodden boy, and his parading compatriot. He refocused on the abused boy, who was grappling against gravity.

"Did you win?"

"I lost." The orange-haired boy lifted himself up, standing with his back arched up straight, and his sword slack in his hand. "I lost."

"You were in over your head, boyo." The two boys turned to look over at the creature that had crawled her way over to them. Her dark hair chopped short up against her scalp, and like a tight compress, her hair clung to the surface of her head, flattened out and refusing to budge even with the wind whistling by. "This is Kurosaki Ichigo, yeah?"

Both nodded their heads, though the red-head quickly moved in to sidetrack the conversation. "You think next time you'll be ready?"

"Yeah."

"Really now?" The two swiftly turned back to her, and her sickened grin crossed her face again, swamping her cheeks with her long teeth. "You'll be obliterated if you think that you'll be ready next time."

"Who the hell are you anyway?" Ichigo grumbled through, his sword morphing to its giant knife shape.

"I saved your ass because all you've got is a dull knife and a shaky grip." The red-head quickly pushed back the lethal projectile of the woman's body. But her hand slipping through and grasped onto Ichigo's black hakama. "You're so far from safety boyo. Get your act together before you end up killed."

"Ayake back off." Renji grunted out, his hand salvaging the two apart. With another nudge, the woman stepped away, and took another step as her compatriot totted a look towards her. Noticing that Ayake wouldn't move, Renji turned back towards Ichigo, who was blaring his auburn eyes at the strange onslaught. "You'll be okay?"

"Yeah."

"How dull," the woman whispered, her hands raking through her hair time and time again until finally the small hairs were standing on end. "Are you still the boy that swept into Soul Society and turned it inside out?"

"Ayake pull back, now." Renji straightened out, pushing the woman back a little further.

She yammered about, her feet propelling her from right to left. "Did you cause such a storm with that pathetic look on your face? I'm curious - Did people move out of your way because you asked them to?" Renji continually pushing her and the call of her name did nothing to stop the stream of consciousness that she was floating on. In fact that pushes and the interruptions were like rapids that made all the words clamber over on another. "You should be more scared of Aizen then whatever is going through your head, boyo."

"As your superior, I order you to pull back. Return to Hitsugaya-taicho and report what happened to him."

The woman snuffed her words and stared at the man, her glittered bug eyes watching for the smallest crack in his order. When she received nothing but a blank face, she twisted around and disappeared.

Renji turned back to the injured boy, and the demure gaze he had towards the ground. "Don't worry about what she said too much. She's a bit crazy."

"Who the hell is she?"

"Don't worry, man. You won't be seeing her too much."


	3. Chapter 2

"Ugh," I grunted out, as the newly cold dirt met my back. I could feel the air rush through my lungs and exhale from my mouth. The pain shuddered through, angling through my back; up and down as it traveled everywhere. Slowly my other hands crept to my back and I rubbed at the incessant spot. It throbbed, burning into my flesh as I rubbed it again and again.

I sat up, using my other hand to balance me, and I looked up at the painted sky. The sweat glided down my face, tickling the sensitive skin that was there. Suddenly, a large leg embedded into my back and I was pushed forwards. As went flying towards the rocks, I flipped around to land on my feet.

"Stop, Kumo," I spat, as I felt blood wrench from my lungs in a harsh cough. Falling back to the floor, I let out the bloody cough out before I spat the remainder out. "I can't take it anymore."

"Ayake-sama," the spider chattered out, and the man stalked over to me. I looked up into his kaleidoscope eyes, which, still had the small hexagonal spots in them. His hand came to rest on my back and I could feel the reiatsu seep in and warm up my spine. "You must get stronger."

As his hand left my back, and turned around and lowered myself to the ground. There was no air, like there would be outside, but the paint was a nice touch. If I closed my eyes I could just about pretend to feel the warmth of the sun on my face, and the air which would glide through my hair. The soft sway of the leaves would be the only sound, as they brushed together and created the peaceful rubbing sound. And the wind would wrap around them and make them flutter and dance. I could just about feel the way the grass tickled my skin.

If I continued to keep my eyes closed, I could just about make out the smells of moist dirt, and the lilac that sprouted up around the gardens. I breathed in deeply and let it hang there, clogging up my throat and then exhaled it. There was a sudden prickle by my hand, and then a grasp of warmth. I took another deep breath, feeling the way my heart jumped for a moment. The warmth spread up through my arm and slowly I turned my hand so that my palm faced upwards and that the warmth wouldn't disappear. I could feel his skin, brush up against mine own, the way our fingers tangled together.

And then it was gone; the memories collapsing into a dark, molten mess in my brain. I clenched my fist, and felt the prickle of when my nails bite into my skin. I turned my hand over and washed the residue of the dream off on the dirt; feeling the way the rocks jumbled and pressed into my hand. I shuttled the breath through my nose, and opened my eyes back up.

"Ayake-sama," Kumo's voice called out, and I tilted my head up to face him. He was smiling at me, but from the angle of my head it looked like he was frowning. I rolled over onto my stomach and looked at him, right-side-up. "You have changed."

"That's what happens in 100 years."

"And I have been with you through that. But you have still changed."

"Kumo," I sat up and patted the ground next to me to invite him to sit. His black body shuffled around, before he found a good position next to me. "Shall we work on reiryoku and reiatsu control again?"

"Alright, Ayake-sama."

The two of us sat there for a moment. The lids of my eyes covered my sight, swallowing me into world of black. I collected the air around me and noted as it waved in and out of my lungs. As I kept breathing, the air around me grew tight and I couldn't help quivering under the pressure. I was scrambling to find oxygen beneath an unrecognizable dark mass.

"Ayake-sama." The voice was muffled by the sound of rushing water. Or was it wind that was howling by my ear?

I turned my head every which way and grasped out for something there. Suddenly a blaze of light came through, and I felt a small tingle around my wrist. There it clung, and the pressure built as I recognized the feeling of bursting cuffs. I could feel the way the numbness was setting on my hand and how the very tips of my fingers were slowly stiffening.

"Ayake-sama." I snapped my eyes open and stared into Kumo's bright red eyes. I saw the deep furrow in his forehead and the way that his mouth twisted downwards in a grimace. "What is wrong?"

It was only then that I noted, how my forehead was cold with the sheen of sweat that stuck there. My breath was deep, but I knew from how the lights were too bright and the sway in my vision that I had stopped breathing for a moment. My heart was resounding through my body, creating a soft pulse which kept me quivering in Kumo's arms. And there I noticed the warm brush of his hands across my face and the thickness of his arm beneath me.

"What is wrong, Ayake-sama?" Kumo repeated and I looked back to his eyes.

I shook my head, and guided my hand through my hair before using the ground to leverage me off of his arms. Still he placed his hands on my shoulders and we sat like that for several minutes before I sat up straighter. "I don't know."

"It's never been this hard for you to connect to your reiryoku." There was a note in his voice that gave me pause and I looked over at him. His eyes didn't waver for a moment, as they slowly trailed along my body trying to see through to the bone and organs beneath my skin.

The temperature around us was spiking and it made me shuffle away from his comfort so that I could get some semblance of peace. But the heaviness wouldn't fade away and I was stuck watching as his words swirled around my head. His eyes had planted themselves firmly where I felt my very own heart ramming against my ribs.

"What are you thinking Kumo?"

"Nothing, Ayake-sama."

"Good," I said, nodding my head and slowly shifting around to stand up. "I think its best we call it a day."

"Ayake-sama I-"

"I didn't ask for your opinion Kumo. I've had enough," I spat out, placing my back in front of his penetrating gaze.

"Ay-"

"Now, Kumo," I ordered and with a rush of wind I could feel his presence leaving the space. _Perhaps they did something_ , _Ayake-sama_.

I tilted my head up to face the painted sun and heard the small crick in my neck snap. From there I rolled my head around and around, until I could feel a small buzz of dizziness. As I straightened out my head, I turned my gaze behind me to where Kumo once stood. His reiatsu wasn't there at all; only a thin trace of what should be there existed.

I turned around and stretched out my shoulders, as I smiled at the surroundings again. I tapped my foot against the ground, watching as the small amount of sand fluttered around the air pressure. It was nice to finally have those dreams solid underneath my feet again. Testing to make sure that each foot landed on the ground without a wave of dizziness, I continued up the ladder and out of the cave.

I glanced to the floor, noting the shift from the desert sand to the forest area. The ground was littered with pebbles and fallen twigs. I carefully made my away across the landscape, making sure to avoid anything too strenuous as I could feel the tweak in my calves; the way that they were hardening right before a cramp. I stopped for a moment to stretch out the muscles, before I started up again.

The sky above up was taking on a dark gray color, and I could see the way that the cloud were moving around. The pace they took was quickening, as the floated above me, and swamping across the sky. The sun was lightly touching the ground by now, and I watched as the orange turned dark blue turned to purple turned to pink and then disappeared. Hunching up my shoulders I nudged my way through the thickening forest at a faster pace, hoping to reach the 2nd division before the moon was completely up and then started my flash-step.

My legs under me burned as I came to a stop facing the central building in front of me. It arched over, towering up and cutting the sky in half. The moon was swallowed up by the overhung clouds but it glistened through, creating patched ground of moonlight. Smiling and giggling to myself, I jumped from orb to orb, leaping and bounding around the campus. I used my hands and my feet, twirling, somersaulting and flipping around, never stopping too long in one particular orb and never touching the darkened ground. If anyone bothered to ask, I was helping my agility and speed.

I did one final flip, before jumping up as far as I could. I could feel the air beneath me grow sodden and my weight start to fall back to the earth. Repositioning myself in the air, I absorbed the reishi beneath me and used it to step off of. I flipped onto the roof of the headquarters. The tiles stood up and prodded at my foot, before I shifted my weight and began to walk. I could hear the soft swipe of cloth against the cold tile, but nothing else.

I took a seat as I reached the pillar which shot out from the tiled roof. Sitting down, my back against the cold rock, I titled my head up and turned my gaze upwards. The sky blanketed with those bright, sparkling lights which I could pin-point. I started connecting lines from one dot to the next, creating funny images, before I slipped my gaze across the moon, where it stopped. The big, round, glowing sphere made my eyes squint a bit but I could feel an instant peace come over me.

The wind rustled by my ears, and flapped against my skin raising the hair on my skin. I began to run my hands up and down the length of my forearms to warm them, however the cold was settling quicker than I had thought. I could feel the cold compress of the rock behind me grow warmer, but as I shifted again there was a new onslaught of cold to greet my back. I sighed and let my head rest against the rock.

"You're up late." I turned my head to face the gentle voice of Ukitake-taicho.

A smile blossomed across my face and I reached a hand out for him as a gesture that he was welcome. He nodded and took a seat next to me, sitting criss-crossed like I was, but leaving enough space for more my many movements.

"Should you even be up, taicho? Don't you have a curfew?" I chided back, as I wagged a small finger in his face.

His face fell into a sort of numb, uncharacteristic look and then shot up into one of joking. He slowly leaned in towards me, looking around suspiciously and then used one of his hands to cover his mouth as he whispered into my ear. "You won't tell would you? I'm trusting my secret to you."

He leaned backwards again with a very serious look on his face and gave me a begging look. We held eye contact for a bit, keeping the air between us serious, as if this secret conversation was the beginning of a rebellion, before a smile broke out and the two of us began laughing.

"I won't tell, Ukitake-taicho."

"Good," he finished with as he gave a firm nod.

I let out one or two more chuckles before the two of us descended into silence, looking up at the sky, and waiting for the other to talk. From the corner of my eye I could see the way that taicho's eyes would open and close. I grimace and looked back at the tiled roof, watching as my toes wriggled around in the socks; the slowly bumps undulated underneath the sock.

"Tea would be nice now wouldn't it?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Yeah, some nice hot tea," I trailed off and looked at him. The wind below up behind him and lifted some of his hair off of his shoulders. "Ah! You wear your hair down now?"

"Just noticed?" He chuckled out and moved one hand to pat down the straggling hair, which kept fluttering up with the breeze.

My mouth pursed and I turned my gaze to face the open space of the courtyard. "Not my fault. I've been training. – And then they send me out on that recon mission."

"Ah, yes." Ukitake-taicho muttered, his hand coming up to cradle his chin as he peered over at me. "You know that the mission was to give you a chance to re-establish connections."

"I watched a little boy get clobbered." The words, I knew, fell plainly across the air as if I had stated such statements a million times in the past. "The same boy that everyone seems to think will win us the war."

I turned towards him with one eyebrow raised and watched as his face slowly crumpled away from his kind smile. His head drifted down; his chin now pointed towards his lap and his eyes lingered on the tiles, like mine had. Some of his hair fell past his shoulder and swung about before draping there.

"Do you not agree with it?" He finally asked after his moment of contemplation.

I looked back up at the sky and watched a series of clouds crossed over the path of the moon, and shadowed the light for a moment. My mind was awkwardly numb, and I couldn't really find the correct words to express what I was thinking. I tried to open my mouth to find the words, but when my mouth opened the words clogged up in my throat.

"Yuko-chan?"

"I don't know," I sighed out, letting my thoughts flow freely from this point on, "I get it in theory, taicho. It makes sense with what we know about Aizen, but he's still a kid. – And human nonetheless."

I turned when Ukitake's gaze became too much; it had been lingered and burning a heated dot there on my cheek. I flushed a little at the examination as I turned to face him and watched his mellow eyes. There was a slight upturn in his mouth. Slowly his hand came out to pat one of my own, and then reached up to rub my head. His smile renewed as his fingers edged through the pixie cut on my head, and how, like a cat, I still responded with a shifting of my head to get closer to the warmth.

"What people had been telling me about you didn't seem to make much sense." I peered up at him as his brain slowly picked out the words he wanted to say. "I had heard about your words towards the Kurosaki boy, and while I found them uncharacteristically harsh of you, it was because you were worried. – You still have that tender heart buried there, don't you, Yuko-chan? It's just a little harder to reach it now."

"He's pathetic." The words falling before I could stop them. Ukitake-taicho merely smiled deeply and moved his hand so that slipped to my shoulder. The firm grasp pivoted me towards him, and I found myself facing the taicho.

"He'll be alright, Yuko-chan. – Perhaps, what you should be more worried about is yourself."

"Bah," the words joined together with a small snort as I crossed my arms and turned my head towards the courtyard, "I'm fine."

The taicho's gaze turned in on me, discerning my statement, and mulling it over, all the while leaving a heated stare at my face. It only served to make me twitch around, hoping to retract into a dark hole so that he couldn't witness whatever he thought he was seeing. Just from the corner of me eye, his mouth opened to say something before it shut. With that his hand fell back to his side and he also turned to look at the courtyard.

"It's been a long time, Yuko-chan. Many things have changed. I will not be the one to deny any of that." He words clipped off at the end, and I peered over towards him, with my knees now pulled close to my chest and my chin resting upon them. "What I plainly yearn for the most is for the past. When you were happy and the world was at peace."

"Don't you think that's a bit hard to come by now?"

"Only when your attitude is such that you are unwilling to accept help when it is offered."

"Ukitake-taicho, the past has gone." The captain floundered hopelessly against the tiles. His shoulders sinking with the weight of the message that he was finally being receptive to. "We win the war, everything goes back to normal and people can be happy again. Relax."

 _Well… Back to a new normal, I guess._

The moments before slowly puttered out. If the tension between us from the moment he arrived had been a wet towel, sodden because of all the memories between us, then this conversation was like twirling it around and getting rid of the water. The wringing slowly draining away the darker memories that had stained the white fabric.

"There's no hard feelings, taicho."

"I should have tried harder. I knew your character more than anyone in that room!" The crack in his voice echoed tremendously with a cough. I reached over and slowly tried to pat out the obnoxious cough, though I knew it would never work. The white-haired man smiled nonetheless at the habitual action.

"Taicho. You always seem to want to take on the weight of the world. Nothing that has happened to me, or to that Kurosaki boy, or any of his friends, can be your fault."

"Why is that I came to comfort you, and in turn it is you comforting me?"

The skin around my mouth peeled back and I found myself smiling at the older man; an alleviating feeling coursing through my veins, as I noticed the happiness that pumped throughout me. There was another surge as the captain, too, smiled back at me, and a secret formed between the two of us.

"I was a bit worried…" my head twisted to the side at trailed away on his statement. His eyes still baring into mine, "but you're still very much the same person. It's nice to see."

"Keep it a secret would you, taicho? Can't have everyone knowing I'm not actually crazy." My smile splitting apart into a wide grin.


	4. Chapter 3

"This is getting annoying." I growled as if I could tear the papers apart with just my voice. "Where's the damn information I need?"

"Perhaps, there is something I can help you with?" I didn't need to turn around to know that it was Ukitake-taicho that had said that.

I had found my way scrambling through the piles of texts in the thirteenth division. While the main records where held in another building by the first division, the thirteenth kept the back-up files stores away in a place kept under the ground. It was barren, and dark, and damp, but it was better than getting over to the first division where I had no access anymore.

I stood up straight as I collected the book that I had finished flipping through and shoved it into the slot that it had previously been in. In that time, Ukitake had made his way over towards me. His head facing the collection of books as he wandered up. His eyes traced over each title as he went, until he slide them my way with that smile coming across his face.

"I never expected to find you here."

"I didn't expect to be found." I had done my best to mask my reiatsu has I had walked away from my napping position in the trees. My eyes narrowed without thought, though I had already flung my gaze to look at the titles. I really needed to find that book, and as quickly as possible it would seem.

"Are you keeping secrets again?"

I peered over my shoulder at him. His tone had registered as a joke, but his shoulders and the mannerisms as he kept his glance on me was too tamed. He tried to keep his eyes wide and open like a child, but a small cloud was coming in from the very tips. His shoulders hadn't even bunched up and the he kept his arms out wide but low as a parent does when they are talking and accepting something from a child.

"Hmmmmm~~." I let the hum flutter up and down along the wind as I turned back and continued down the hall.

We slide through the paths of books and scrolls. They had even upgraded this system to having a few computers which I noted as we cleared through the last aisle. They were rather large taking up the wall, but the three massive screens were useful. Ukitake never left my side, making sure to keep his gaze off of my form as we kept the walk going. Our footsteps resounded together; me matching his pace as I had always done.

The air outside had turned brittle, snapping at our heads as we came back outside. It had turned darker since I had entered. Ukitake must have noticed my absence; my swinging foot no longer fanning passing strangers as they walked underneath my branch. They at the thirteenth division had long since grown used to me being up on that branch, as they merely walked under than walking around the tree like they had.

"What was it that you were looking for?"

"Just brushing up on my history of the past couple years." I flapped my hand around, as if brushing away the odd smell of his question. Ukitake very rarely questioned what I was up to. My hand drifted back down collecting around the hilt of my zanpakuto. "Time has slipped right by me, it seems."

There was no reply to that comment. The easy chat of the past few nights was long forgotten, and between us lay the same prehistoric riddles that we had marked out before us over the past fifty years. My head titled up slightly as I let it wander around the influx of stars that were beginning to make an appearance in the sky. Until that damn static was gone, Ukitake would have to wait.

"How's your soldier?"

"Rukia-chan?" Ukitake huffed slightly at the lack of name-usage. It seemed that was the most irritable of my newly collected mannerisms. "She's doing fine. It's Ichigo-san I'm worried about."

We turned left down the street going the most direct path towards the eighth division. Though, it had been many years since I had taken this route I knew it like the back of my hand. I had collected it somewhere in my memory and had retraced it countless times over the years; when I was bored, when I was sick, when I needed a distraction. I ran my hand along the walls. The smooth, undated material ran underneath my soft flesh, tickling it. The plaster of white seemed to do nothing less than make me dizzy after all of these years.

Ukitake hadn't taken the chance to speak, obviously waiting for me to say something. My interaction with the boyo had made him curious I'm sure. I twerked my head over to him, catching his glance. He only gifted me with another smile.

"What about him?" I gave in, watching as he let it finally let that pleasant smile grow larger and larger. It was almost like I had given him candy.

"Seems he's gone missing."

"And?"

Ukitake halted in front of the massive gate to the eighth division. His smile fell, as did the quirk in my eyebrow which had lifted at the sudden silence. "Abarai-fukutaicho mentioned that you were one of the last to talk with him."

"As I recall," I crumbled the words as I spat them out, "Abarai-fukutaicho also told you what I told him."

"Be that as it may, Yuko-chan, you wouldn't have any idea where he is would you?"

I turned his words around and around in my head. No wonder they had sent Ukitake to me. As my former captain he knew exactly what to say and how to say it. It was almost saddening to know that I know could read him like the very scrolls he had taught me how to read. All soul society wanted was answers, and they just didn't care who they picked them from.

"Why would I know that?"

This time he registered my words and nodded his head along with what I was saying. All soul society wanted was answers, I chanted in my head as I watched the captain disappear through the gateway. If it had been centuries earlier I might had accompanied him through, but those days had finished a long time ago. Now I was an informant about information I didn't even have.

Time changes many, many things. I tilted my head up towards the sky, leaving me to feel like the insignificant person underneath the vast ocean of darkness and light. Staring up, always had left that impression on me; no matter if it was clouds or stars that riddled the sky. I was just a tiny blimp in a weird continuum of events.

 _Ayake-sama?_

 _Yes, Kuro?_

 _You know where that boy is, don't you?_

Humming, I made my way along back towards the second division. No matter if I was over the time limit of my enforced schedule, the onmitsukido would know the route that I was heading back on. I wouldn't even use shunpo, since that would just be a waste of energy.

 _Are you keeping secrets from me now too, Ayake-sama?_

 _Don't be silly Kuro. You know you read my mind anyway._

 _I don't like being invasive._

 _We forwent the formalities a long time ago._

The buildings still looked the same as they had, arching high into the sky. White washed brick, stacked up to tower over the feeble shinigami below. Just before me lay a direct view to the repentance tower, which stood above the rest of the buildings, scrapping against the sky above it. The obvious signs of age were not lost of me though. There were tons of cracks, and brittle pieces of stone stuck up from the ground. Each division gate had lost its shine; darkened edges of dust and mold collecting from not being washed nearly enough.

To an outsider like those ryoka that had come two, perhaps three months, ago, none of the ware-and-tear was notable. But it was there, and it had nothing to do with the damage they had caused on the surface.

 _Your thoughts are very sporadic._

 _And I can barely hear your voice._

 _Will you do something to fix that?_

I could go on non-pulsed by ever energetic third-seat duo that had begun to accompany the captain. Honestly, how Ukitake dealt with their obsession was a bit beyond me. I stretched my arms up and moved them around in tiny circles as I loosened up my muscles even more. My head titled back took in the beams that supported the roof of the second division main building.

I could go on non-pulsed, but I don't think I'll be needing to go to the library anymore. I had finally cracked that damn code. After days of trying and failing to slip past Ukitake long enough to house myself up in the library in the thirteenth division, I had cracked it. As long as I didn't flare up my reiatsu too much. Or, rather, I'd have to make another trip out to my little hole in the forest.

Division two hadn't changed much. The thick walls surrounded the entire compound; large white walls, which reflected the bright sunlight from every which direction. The floors in every room were still wood, allowing small bounces which each step. There were several big courtyards that were used. The main one, which led right to the entrance gates, still had shinigami and black ops wandering around. However, the smaller training courtyards still had cement blocks which were splattered with blood and slickened with sweat. Every single room was spacey, with large sliding doors which usually stayed open and large gusts of air which wafted through.

Surprisingly, even the captain's room hadn't changed at all. Soi-fon didn't seem to have much imagination, I thought, as I peered around the room. The chair, which Yoruichi would usually sit in was still planted in the floor, and thin strip of carpet absorbed any sound that people made as they walked towards the captain still present. Though it had been replaced so it was fresh, and the trodden fabric didn't look nearly as tainted.

"Here," Soi-fon snapped, as she twisted back around in front of me. Her hands filled with a thick wad of papers, which she flung in my direction.

I lifted the papers from her hands and looked down at them. _Training. Therapy… Composition… Remediation…_ I paused and glossed over a section labeled, "Compensation."

The lines blurred together slightly, as I looked down at the white papers a little too closely, but the words, thankfully, still made sense. I set the papers down on the floor and titled my cheek into my hand. As I slowly began to turn the page, I asked, "I return to the second division?"

"Not to your former position." Soi-fon shot back. She then pointed to her left side where a thick man stood behind her.

His hakama was adorned with a strong purple material around his collar, obviously to show his royalty, and a gold necklace which most likely had his family insignia. I watched as a ringed finger disappeared behind a bag of chips, before he pulled up a pile and shoved it into his mouth. The grease was splattered across his cheeks, and I raised an eyebrow as I turned my look back to Soi-fon.

She merely rolled her eyes as she stated blandly, "I've had your replacement for a long time."

I motioned for her to fall forward slightly. She did, slowly leaning in to hear the secret with her own fuku-taicho not making not of the smallest shifts. "He's not as good as me, is he?"

"I don't know," Soi-fon stated, though I could just about sense the small mischievousness that wrapped around her tone. "He might be. Training at the academy has changed over the past 100 years you've been gone."

"So you called me here to sign this?"

Soi-fon sighed and nodded. "You should read it first… Anything you want to be corrected can be submitted and the Sou-taicho will look over it."

I nodded with her, and turned my look over to the lieutenant in front of me. He had paused in his snacking as he flipped the bag around to see if any more chips would fall out. As they didn't he crumpled up the bag and shoved it into his shirt, before he searched through his hakama to find another bag. I turned an amused glance towards Soi-fon, who merely rolled her eyes, before she noticed what she was doing and straightened her face. Abruptly she stood and began to make her way out the door.

"You should have given me this earlier, Soi-fon."

Her footfall stopped and she turned around to face me. The strong breath she carried was released and she looked over at me. Those were definitely not the words she was expecting me to say. Seems that time apart had made me just as unreadable to her, as she attempts to be with me.

I could feel her eyes raking me over, whilst I did the same. Her body had lengthened, and the hakama fit her amazing well. The sleeves of her captain's robe covered up the more than likely well and hard trained muscles of her arms. From the way she walked I had already ascertained that her time in the black ops had done her well and back. I glossed my eyes down and then back up, before catching her hard look.

"Just sign the damn thing, Yuko." She turned back around, and began her walk with her lieutenant lumbering after her. "And stop referring to me so casually. It's Soi-fon taicho."

I sighed as she finally disappeared around the bend and turned back to the papers. Honestly, I guess I could humor the girl and her new uppity attitude. I raked my hands down the side, watching as the papers slide back down the ground. Finally, stopping my fiddling, I faced forward, took a deep breath and read through the contract.

By the time I was done, the light was just hanging over head in the sky. I had wasted the day signing lines. That invisible dog collar growing tighter and tighter on my neck, but that damn chain had come undone from the dog house. Honestly, did they think that Soi-fon and Ukitake would be able to keep me in this place?

 _I believe they do._

 _Well - That's just too bad~_

 _Don't do anything rash, Ayake-sama._

 _You're going to have to speak up._

I stretched out my muscles, pulling my bent forearms down behind my head and then leaning my torso to the opposite side. I repeated the action, and then popped out my back. Leaving the papers where they were, now signed, I moved out onto the balcony. I followed the walls down the hall, marking the small differences that stained the white paper. The differences would grow marginally stronger from now on.

"Well, I guess I could give it another day." By calculations it was only the 17th of September, which places boyo at nine days missing and counting. "They shouldn't kill him."


	5. Chapter 4

_The air whipped at the skin of my face, but I couldn't help but grin. I bounced on top of the tree branch, and using the momentum sped up. My hand tapped against each mark that I set for myself, and I moved around. I stopped feeling my breath coming out in soft pants and feeling one foot sliding out to stop my momentum. The dirt underneath me finally bunched up enough, so that I could come to a complete stop._

 _"_ _Looks like your gaining some control again," a voice called out behind me. I quickly turned around to find Kyoraku there._

 _Smiling wholly, I nodded and stretched out my legs again. "Shall we have a little competition, captain?"_

 _He chuckled, his shoulder shaking. "Absolutely not. I remember how you get with your competitions."_

 _"_ _Ah," I whined, pouting slightly. "I was hoping for a good challenge."_

 _"_ _The last time you challenged me, I ended up with a couple of good smacks." Kyoraku deemed, as he wrapped his two hands into the confines of his sleeves. His patented hat was poking up, allowing me to see that long smile that was spread across his face._

 _My eyebrows pulled together, trying to recall that moment. "I don't think that's how it happened, Kyoraku-taicho."_

 _"_ _It's not?"_

 _"_ _No." I started giggling as looked up into his face. "I do believe that you got yourself slapped by that nice lieutenant of yours."_

 _"_ _Ah," Kyoraku breezily said, letting his head tip back. Suddenly he plopped to the ground, comically falling back so that he could stare up into the sun._

 _I paused before slowly lowering myself down to the ground to join him. The trees around us were adorned with bright green leaves, which covered up the sky. Even still, the light of the sun would flash through the holes between the leaves and the branches, creating small sun pockets in the ground. My eyes slowly slipped closed, and I listened carefully to the brushing of leaves and then the deep breathes that Kyoraku took. I imagined the way that his chest heaved, his mouth slightly open, with that ridiculous hat of his tipped over his eyes. I turned my attention to the way the sun lit up my toes, and then moved up my leg to stop, creating a tingling sensation in the skin around my heart._

 _"_ _She was good to me, you know?"_

 _I took a deep breath, slowly opening my eyes to turn and look at the captain's profile. His lips were wide open, with a small, faint smile turning the skin up. His whisky beard giving him the appearance that he had years ago. My eyes traveled over the curved line of his nose, and towards the shadowed eyes. However, it was impossible to see past the dark rim of his hat. I turned my attention back to the waving leaves above us._

 _Looking down at my hands, I forced them to relax and let go of the grass beneath them. Slowly they uncurled and lay flat, taking in the warm residue that was left from my body heat. I cradled the grass there for a minute before pressing down and feeling the dirt beneath my fingers. "I know."_

 _"_ _Ise Nanao took her position."_

 _"_ _Nanao…" I recalled the name briefly. "The girl that Lisa read to?"_

 _"_ _The very same," Kyoraku replied, and I turned to see the light grin turn into something deeper. One of his hands lifted up and tilted his hat back, and I matched his gaze. I could feel my own smile blooming. "They're both good to me."_

 _"_ _Does she also hit you with a book?"_

 _"_ _Yup." Kyoraku chirped, and pretended to swoon as he tilted his head my way and blasted me with a strong smile. "My strong women." I let out a laugh, feeling my back arch up from the ground, feeling Kyoraku's gaze on me. "It's a pity I never had you in my squad. Jushiro got you instead."_

 _"_ _Only for a little bit." I said, feeling the chuckles finally stop._

 _"_ _Still – He got you more than I did," he whined out, letting his eyes close and his lips pucker out._

 _I started laughing again, and when that burst had left, I sat up and leaned back on my hands. I could still feel Kyoraku's gaze on my back, which slowly traveled over the arch of my shoulder and down my arm. I took a look over my shoulder, and smiled down at him._

 _"_ _It's good to have you back." One of his hands, fell on top of mine and slowly patted it._

 _I sat up straighter, and turned my front to face him. "You think they're okay?"_

 _Kyoraku looked over at me, and slowly his smile fell. My brows furrowed as I looked at the undistinguishable look he was throwing at me. Slowly his mouth opened. "We're banned from talking about them. Central 46 passed the law only shortly after they were deemed menaces and to be executed."_

 _"_ _But surely that law is no longer in effect?" I questioned, looking him square in the eye. As his eyes flickered towards the left, I let out an exasperated sigh. "It was all Aizen's doing. How could you treat them that way? When you finally understand!"_

 _Kyoraku sat up abruptly and leaned in close. "Do we really understand Ayake? We know as much about the situation as you do, and all we understand is that Aizen betrayed us and turned some of the best captains and lieutenants into hollows."_

 _"_ _Isn't that enough?"_

 _"_ _Would that be enough for you?_

 _I leaned back away from the small shade of his hat, and quickly stood up. "It's always been enough. You're not the only victims in this situation."_

 _"_ _So then you knew about it," Kyoraku said from the ground._

 _I pulled back further, forcing my shoulders to stay relaxed and concentrating on my breath. His reiatsu flickered and rose, wrapping in a deadly trap around my neck. Building up the energy in my core, and forced the reiatsu to seep out and plow down his._

 _"_ _I understand the proceedings of that night, from the records you told me, and the records I read. I knew nothing. I barely know anything right now. – Don't you think that kills me, too? Knowing that, perhaps, I could have prevented it, if I had known about it?_

 _And should you ever dare to accuse me again, you'll have much more to answer for than what's already been done to me."_

 _"_ _What are you talking about?" Kyoraku stood up and loomed over me, seeming to act small and meek as he placed his hands into his sleeves again. I looked him over, letting my eyes wash along his frame and size him up._

 _"_ _It's been 100 years, Kyoraku. Things have changed."_

 _"_ _Are you threatening me, Yuko-chan?" I watched as his eyes slowly swept over before locking with my own. There was a small glint there, one that flickered for only a moment before he let his eyes grow cold._

 _"_ _No, Kyoraku-taicho. I'm telling you where you stand, just like you've told me," I said, and I stared as his eyes slowly lowered down to the grass and then back up to me._

"Kumo, couldn't you have blocked that?"

 _My apologies, Ayake-sama. It's only your guilt that making you remember._

I huffed up breathe as I finally came to a slow down on the branches. The conditioning I had been doing the past two months had done me well, but I was still seriously out of it. Curling my fingers into my palm, I smacked the tree with a shot of frustration. To feel that I was back at square one again, when I had gotten so far so long ago made my body undulate. At least I had been able to drop the onmitsukido on the way here.

I twisted the cloak that had tangled up around my neck, and made sure that it was completely covering my shoulders as I dropped down to the ground floor. I tried to ignore the way that the fabric dumped itself over me, like a wave of memory that wanted to cling to my frame. I would be dealing with all that soon enough, I didn't need the cloak acting as foreshadow, but it had been useful. Masking my reiatsu, as limited as it had become, was a difficult task when I couldn't control it properly. With this, I was able to go completely undetected, even if it was clinging.

I came outside of the forest to stare openly at the house. The house stretched left and right and up as well. Three stories, and probably more than fifteen rooms across the entire expanse. My eye twitched as I stared at the building, the embers of long burned out jealousy coming back. That damn cat had lived in splendor, hadn't she?

 _You were never jealous before, Ayake-sama._

 _I guess I just need to see her again_.

I stepped cautiously out, gripping tightly to the sword on my side. Using another flash-step I came right up to the gate with no resistance. The glaring emblem of the Shihoin house crafting a shadow as I stood outside the gates. Touching the metal, I jerked it tentatively. The metal bars screeched together and set a bunch of birds scattering away in a squawk of protestation.

Just as I was about to use a bit more force, a voice barked from the other side of the gate. "Who are you?"

The young person stepped even further in front, making it even easier to make him out now as he stood in the daylight and out from the curving shadows of the clouds. Though his face was awfully feminine with large gold eyes, there was a strictness to his cheek and jaw bones that demonstrated his masculinity. His thick black hair was tied up into a pony-tail, which cut off somewhere at the line of shoulders. The dark-skin was brought out even more by the white gloves and the shoulder pads that he adorned on top of the black garment.

"Mah, Yushiro-boyo," I cut off as the grin stole away that grimace of seriousness on his face. There was a brightness in his eyes that had been masked before. "You've grown."

"Yuko-nee." He clattered around the gates, disturbed the odd peace that had laid around the house, grunting. He unsuccessfully prodded around the locks three times, jabbering on and on, before he finally got the locks undone.

I let the weight of his body take me down as he hugged me tightly, planting his head into my chest and wrapping his arms around like boa constrictor around its prey. The earth was cool beneath me, compared to the heat of the boy that was still talking to himself. I hadn't caught a word even though his eyes were flashing with each passing moment. Unsure what he had been told, to have been greeted so warmly, I watched his head shift around as he nodded to himself and the rhythms of his voice carried out its own tune.

His chin now rested on my breasts as he continued to talk, mouth going a mile a minute, so that he could look at me more formally. I wiggled around until my arms were out from the blood-cutting position underneath me and his tight grip, and patted him on the head. Rubbing, seemed to always do the trick with the Shihoin family. Yushiro had settled from stopping and merely watching, letting me wreak havoc to his hair.

"Can you do me a favor, boyo?

"Absolutely!" His voice was like wind chimes, something that still hadn't changed, and told me that he still had a long way until he could be considered mature.

He seemed to know better than I did what I had wanted to say. I let the boy drag me a long through every twist and turn of the house. Spying through the windows, I say the large expanse of land that had been built up into gardens in the back of the house. I hadn't been able to see them before. Obviously the Shihoin's still occupied a lot of land, wealth and power. Even with the tarnish to the name, the symbol still carried weight.

Yushiro wildly toured me through the house, and then through the gardens, gripping my hand tighter and tighter as he went about. I stared at the swinging pendulum of hair, as he tossed his head every which way to point things out, to glance back at me, or to concoct a new idea that he wanted to tell me. I hadn't really come to hear him talk, but I could do this favor in return for the one that he would give me.

Now in the midst of the rose garden, Yushiro finally came to a stop and eagerly fell to the floor. In a flourish he dug through the dirt until he found a small device. "This is the safest place, Yuko-nee."

"Yushiro."

"Hai?" Even that couldn't come out as a question as he peered at me with those electrified gold eyes. The way he spoke always came out a peppy comment, with those big eyes always wider than a puppy's as he peered up at me.

"You can't tell anybody anything."

He nodded savagely, as if he neck wouldn't snap off from the up and down motion. "I know."

"You could get in trouble."

"I'd be in more trouble with Nee-sama if I didn't help out."

I sighed at the excitable boy that was still clambering for attention. Waving off the nostalgic feeling of having him with me, nipping at my heels, I grabbed the device from his hands. With a soft pat of the head, and a caress of his cheek I sent him on his way. His reiatsu vanished instantly with a flash-step towards the other side of the house, where the rose garden wasn't even seen. I waited patiently until the remnants died down a bit before shifting back around.

 _You're sure about this, Ayake-sama?_

 _They don't need me here, Kumo._

It had taken a long time to find. I had wandered around the whole night sky with that crappy cloak barricading my breath at times. It was either too loose or it was too tight, and it was really irritating. The skin of my throat felt raw just from thinking about it. I couldn't take it off, given the fact that the group of Shinigami were still here. By the small beckons of their reiatsu I could tell that they were out on patrol for the night.

"A candy store huh?"

It was a two-tiered building with a large front, though it was enclosed by all other sides by large buildings. It stood out a shack compared to the building next to it, and the patch work exterior didn't do it much justice. There was a shed off to the right side of the building, but even that looked like it was no better built than the store itself. My eyes lingered on the sign _Urahara Shoten_. The black ink stained the board marvelously well, and it glistened even in the trenches of the night time. Even if the outside looked bad, undoubtedly beneath this damn earth was another training pit. He never messed up with the grandeur of his training camps.

"This is supposed to be decent?" I recalled the words the Ukitake had relayed to me one night after I had woken up. "Seriously?"

 _He said the business did well, Ayake-sama._

 _How's that possible with this make-shift building?_

 _Humans are not nearly as distrusting, I assume._

There were no flares of familiar reiatsu nearby, but I would be taking a risk either way. I could faintly hear the patter of foot-steps inside, which meant that someone was still awake. With as much care as I could take, I knocked on the door. The walking stopped, and then the whistling of fabric as everything started to come together. The clanking of those damn shoes. He was being too damn slow.

Slowly I inched the blade out of my sheath, and our two swords clattered together as the front door shuddered in its frame with a large lurch of force. I was met with a white and green hat as he maneuvered around to send me crashing into the earth behind. Whilst I soared, I flipped around, letting my fingers drag through the earth and trying to stop myself with friction. I heard more than felt the flash-step, as the man came plummeting toward me from above.

Groaning our swords met again, sparks flying as they always had. I lay on my back, one hand wrapped around my hilt, the other holding the flat side of the sword in my palm letting the material press in. I had twisted it around when I had noticed that he was coming in from above. His legs straddled me, two hands colliding his metal against my sword-bar. With a flick of my leg, I pushed him off with a stern kick to his chest to gain some distance between the two. I could barely lift the sword, between the adding weight of his strength, and the change in the atmosphere around me. I hated zanjustu the most anyway.

"Kisuke." I snapped just as he began to run towards me again, his sword arm bent around the lower half of his face. Thankfully he wasn't using a shunpo at the moment, giving me enough time to speak. "It's me your dumb oaf."

I shifted the cloak so that it was no longer around my shoulders. I had forgone the typical Shinigami ware and had replaced it with what I had once worn; black leggings with the traditional shitagi and kosode on top, although the sleeves had been cut off. Along my waist, I had also kept the standard white sash to hold my zanpakuto.

I had used sleeves for a very long time, but upon realizing the power behind Kumo I had opted to forgo them as they had become a hassle. I wore the leggings because while easier to mask movements with the large balloon type hakama, I moved too quickly and the fabric often got tangled. I had even opted to wear the slippers, often given to those in the onmitsukido instead of that standard wajari sandals because I preferred the grip of my own feet. I had always become irate under the conditions of wearing the traditional shihakusho, so got rid of it as quickly as possible.

"Yuko?"

"That's right you idiot."

I took in the green clothing that my friend had adopted. It was similar fashion to the shihakusho, giving Kisuke a wide berth for his movements and having plenty of additional cloth for his lean frame. But the top was cut much deeper and tied only by a small ribbon around his waist. The fabric cut off at around his hips, but the green continued through the capri-length trousers he wore. He still wore those obnoxiously loud geta sandals as well, and he had taken on wearing a bright white and green stripped hat.

I became surrounded by his long arms, having not noticed the way he had moved even as I was observing his clothing. I should have been able to register that he had moved so much closer so as to give me a hug but I guess I had been too preoccupied. Letting my head flop into his chest, my fingers clamped into the fabric. His sword and mine own were snuggled deep into each other's backs.

He smelt just as I had remember him; of his odd science experiments and that deep scent of himself that was just a bit like jasmine. I shouldered his weight and he shouldered mine. Our hugs had always lasted that long, until the warmth was almost insufferable and our clothes had become haggard by the very experience.

With each word he spoke, his lips caressed the skin of my head as my hair no longer prevented the unwarranted touch. He curled his hand up through my scalp short hair, pressing my closer to him before tipping my head back and looking my down. From beneath the shadows of his hat, though he had always been a fan of hiding, I could make out the round edges of his eyes and the teetering of emotions that were driving.

 _There are no need for words, Ayake-sama_.

I buried in again to Kisuke's chest and rode out the drilling that was going on in my chest. My heart was pumping furiously. My limbs were quivering as I heard distantly my sword prick the ground as it fell from my hand. I lodged myself into his arms so that I wouldn't have to think about the way that I was shaking anymore. He tightened up on me, lathering me in the suction cups of his grip, and brought his head back down again. Our breaths coming out in unity.

Ever so slowly, Kisuke broke us apart. He kept own long arm around my frame, keeping me close to his body, as he bent and grabbed my sword so that it was cradled against his own. He ushered me into the house, collecting my shuddering frame and beckoning me into this warmth as he kept me wrapped tightly. Once inside, he took up something to wrap around me replacing the reiatsu-cancelling cloak.

"They'll find me." I tugged on the fabric, trying to get it back so that I could stay here longer.

"They won't." I felt like a child again, as he collected me back and got me into another room. The lights were already burning brightly here and there were the scents of food, as he settled me down on a cushion. "Tessai, some tea."

I couldn't make out any more movements. I zoomed in on Kisuke's features now that he had taken off the hat and offered up his own vulnerability for my shaking and prone form. He looked just has he had so many years ago, with that coy flash in his eyes and the lingering jerk of a smile always twitching on his lips. He peered as curiously at me, and I wondered what he saw, before I was taken in by the shine of his eyes. Barring the short hairs of stubble that he was adorning, Kisuke was the absolute same as I had remembered him being.

I ran my fingers over his face, rubbing at the hairs until they prickled my roughened skin. He could probably feel the new callouses there. "What's with the beard?"

"I think it makes me look even more handsome."

"I don't think it's been working."

"Oh?" There was that flash in his eyes, and the cool grip of his hand untangled from my shoulder. "Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Have you seen this house?"

"Not even five minutes into our long awaited reunion and you're already admonishing me. You're so cruel Yuko-chan."

I collected Tessai's large hand into my own once he had placed cups of tea down. I noted the forth but decided not to make a comment. Squeezing, I moved the large man closer to me. "Thank you."


	6. Chapter 5

The three of us wrapped ourselves in the blanket of misery and warmth. Kisuke had attempted to sully the mood more than once with a few jokes, but my own words didn't want us to forget. I had one night to relive everything in the arms of my brethren, and I wasn't missing the opportunity for anything. It felt like I was pushing out slugs of swine with each passing word; wanting to vomit out the history that had been left behind in the cell I had been left to rot in. When the mood finally settled to my victory, Kisuke breathed in the memories I sent him and cradled my hands in his own not for pleading but for companionship.

"I don't think there's much I can do, Yuko-dono."

I had laid bare even my skin for this cause, having unwrapped my top leaving me in only my wrappings. Kisuke sucked in the bones and the ragged scars and skin that were left as covers for the protruding menace of my body. There was not the lean coating of muscle I had used to adorn with fresh plump skin, but it would take another few months to get even a smidge closer to my previous glory. I wasn't just shaved at the top of my head, but shaved across all my body of the remnants of who I had been.

I slipped the garments back on, tightening the fabric back. "It's too much?"

"It can only be undone by the head captain and Unohana."

"Unohana?" I peered over my shoulder, catching the way his glasses flared whilst he nodded his head. "I hadn't expected that."

"I would have loved to have assisted you in this." The large man stared longingly at the floor, his head bowed over to serve in the most polite and sincerest apologies. I merely patted his shoulder, to which he rose again. "I can weaken the seal slightly but it won't be enough to -"

"Do it."

The firmness of my own words were met with the firmness of his nod and the unbridled motions of the two gathering the equipment they would need. Kisuke and Tessai ushered me down to the pit of the training ground that I had speculated was down there. It looked identical to the ones back in soul society, with the same textures and colors. Why Kisuke always wanted it to be daytime was beyond me, but I could at least pretend to have optimism when I saw the painted sun.

 _There is no need to pretend, Ayake-sama. They will not forsake you._

 _I know, Kumo. I just wanted the damn limiter completely off._

 _There's not much else they can completely do._

 _Leave it to the Sou-taicho to keep screwing me over after all this time. A hundred years isn't enough for him, is it?_

I stripped my top off again, and settled onto the ground where Kisuke had directed me to. Tessai sat behind me, off by about two meters, whilst the blonde-boyo took his seat in front two meters ahead so that we were all in a line. They mimicked each other, with their right arms stretched out and their left arms giving them the balance they needed to perform the kido. Kisuke and I locked eyes, and the words of the enchanted spell fell through the air and swarmed up on the floor so that they could begin to snake around me. The pressure grew tighter and tighter, and the iron bolt that had been rammed through my reiatsu slowly creaked and the suddenly popped towards the left.

The very first thing I noticed, was that upon my chest was the suddenly present black cat. She had curled up into a tight ball, head in paws, and her long body circled around where my heart lay. Sighing, I maneuvered slowly so that I could rummage my hairs through the fur of her back. As I slowly pet, her soft purrs met my ears. Within five seconds of seeing her again, she was already begging me to pamper her. Her eyes probably weren't even open yet, as she lazily let me do all the work.

"Kisuke told me everything."

I shifted my head to look over at the window in the room. Light was already streaming in, which meant it was beyond noon already. "How long have I been out?"

"Only the night." She shifted around, coming so that her small paws massaged my chest as she came to face me. "The seal has been loosened a bit, but even still it caused some problems to your body. You passed out from exhaustion."

I followed the long black whiskers, straight to the tip of her nose and then followed the arch back up to the gold eyes which hungrily watched every movement. "It's been a long three months."

She popped off from my chest, made her way to the back of the room where I could hear the hissing sounds of her transformation happening. When she came back to me, she was in her human form; her long tan legs, her large bust, and then the form of that mischievous smirk. She had already pulled on long knit sweater that covered her to just below her bottom, and pair of underwear. I had gotten used to various stages of undress from her, but at least she was remembering to actually put on clothes this time.

Her hands collected me into a strong hug, before she broke apart and helped to fix up my appearance. It appears that after the kido was done, Kisuke had taken the time to lead me into the healing pool that he had set up. Since my uniform had soaked through, he had wrapped me into a white shitagi, but now that everything was dry I could dress properly again.

I knew more than anything the reason that Yoruichi stood before me as I changed was so that she too could see the body that Kisuke had described to her. She watched with parallel eyes, as I moved around; my body twisting and lifting the fabrics. It was like having a medical examiner around to make sure that I wouldn't fall over, so there was no use in being ashamed in what she saw. I could move in the peace that she and her tactical vision gave me.

"You've been working hard then."

"I'm also participating in this war, Yoruichi." Her eyes glistened as I latched to them. Something in the normally liquid gold shimmered. "It's been a long time coming."

The two of us swayed as we held on to one another. Since she was slightly shorter than me, we had often switched off who got to lay their head on whose chest. This time it was her, so I was able to rake my hands through the newly elongated hair that she adorned. Each strand slithered through my fingers as I tugged my hand through. Yoruichi and I had flip-flopped again it seems.

Her breathe hit my neck as she whispered, "I'm glad you're alright."

"I will be fine."

"Kisuke told me you had a few errands to run."

I collected the reiatsu cloak and distributed it around my shoulders. Enough had been unlocked that I was now traceable and if what Kisuke had told me was correct, I would have to be even more careful now. Abarai-fukutaicho's snores seemed to shake the whole house as he slept in from his late-night patrol. The others, however, would probably be on alert since the information was out that I was no longer anywhere to be found.

"Your brother misses you."

"That brat can wait." Yoruichi and I made our way down through the hallway and into the main rooms. Tessai and Kisuke seemed to be munching on their lunches as we entered. "You don't have long."

I settled in for my own small meal. "Now it's your turn to tell me everything."

My stomach still couldn't take much, so it was still more than enough for Kisuke to hand over a few energy supplements and Tessai to give me tea. I stole a few amused glances at Yoruichi who seemed to want to run Kisuke out of house and home with the amount she was eating, which she only seemed to be rolling her eyes at.

The three contributed to the conversation. The words from last night lingered over, but did not seep into today. Surely they plagued at the back of our minds, all four of us, but with the sun high above us we moved onto the more important matters. The war was just around the corner, and Kisuke had a lot to mention of the past one hundred years of his exile. There was no comparison of the battle scars, but laying bare of them.

"I'll run my errands, as you call them, and then head back to soul society." The two couldn't even protest that much as that's how the game was played, but they did give me rather chilled glances. "You know it's not by choice."

Kisuke slid over a piece of paper with two sets of directions on it, before nodding. "We know."

I figured coming this way was a little more important than going to the warehouse. Now that the seal had been lifted a little bit, I could make out reiatsu's much more easily. The ribbons floated by me, dancing around my very body as I waved through them. While Kisuke had been kind enough to give me a map and directions, I needed to continue practicing. Every little bit eroded a little bit at the lock on my powers, so until that was gone I'd have to continue to do everything bit by bit.

There was a small bustle going around inside. I could make out the stampede of someone moving around inside, and if the reiatsu that floated around was anything to tell by it was exactly who I was looking for. Ichigo's reiatsu had died off, having it been a while now that he had disappeared. It left very little to my imagination.

Although, I had been very surprised with the name change, there had been that glint in the orange-boyo's eyes that was not mistakable at all. I had seen that determined glint angled towards me more than several hundred times; having it burned into my memory. Having it cast at me through a stranger's eye I should have been taken more off guard, but now that I knew the connection it wasn't hard to place the scowl nor the stupidly stubborn attitude either.

I peered up and over the windowsill, watching as the man was ushering out a client. My eyes swinging around, I found what I was looking in through the back of a room. Clinic was right. I saw only small-time medical equipment stored away and a bed that had a role of parchment paper still slathered out. There was a desk with a computer towards the left of her that was for patient information, so I assumed.

The door clicked and I quickly flung myself out from the window. From what Kisuke had told me, he should have his powers back by now. With the cloak on he still shouldn't be able to tell, but he always had had keen eyesight. Ducking beneath the sill, I maneuvered over to the next window that placed me in what looked like a living room.

The room was connected straight to a kitchen and a dining room via a doorway. I rolled my eyes through the whole place gathering as much information as I could, but it seemed it was a rather simple living style. The man obviously hadn't picked up some of the more garish living arrangements of his other side of the family.

Seeing that the lock was on the side, and not on the top of the window, I began to gently edge the glass up and down. My assumption about the lock being old, seemed to hold true. As I quickened the pace, the lock began to shift upwards. With one final movement, the lock came undone and I crawled in through the sill, locked it, and settled into a chair at the table.

By this time the man, who was whistling to himself, had come back in through the other door way. Baring a towel in his hands, he wiped whatever residue he could find and didn't bother to look up. I watched, a slow smile gifting my face, as he meandered towards the sink. With a small snap, I let the cloak pilfer off of my shoulders and my reiatsu leak out through the house. He continued to wash away, his whistling growing louder and louder. The hunches of his shoulders grew stiffer, and he angled his head downwards like a turtle trying to escape into its shell.

"Boyo."

Flinging himself with his sodden hands, the man collapsed into the chair I had occupied and smacked himself with the wood of the seat. Rubbing at the spot, not bothered by the water that was now leaking down his face, he captured my visage with his own two eyes as I squatted on the top of the chair. I loomed over him again, peering with my bright eyes and that smile slinking across my face.

"Sensei."

The man stood to his full height. He had fully expanded into an adult, I noted; no longer the Shiba I had once known. Though his hair had remained in that permanent spiked up-do, undoubtedly from gel, it had grown some and had become more course and bushy. He, too, was maintaining his own type of shadowy beard instead of what used to be non-existent. His torso had filled out tremendously, swiping away any images of his as that late-teenager I remembered. In front of me stood, the imposing figure of a shadow of the student I had once.

"Finding you human was a surprise."

I slipped down into the bed of the chair, whilst he took the one next to me. The corner cut an invisible line through our conversation. We eyed each other for a long time, letting the clock be the only movement in the room. Finally, I took a hand into my own and shook it.

"Kurosaki Isshin."

"Ayake Ichiyuko."


	7. Chapter 6

Orihime Inoue had been given a large task. Kurosaki Ichigo had been gone; leaving his family worried and the Shinigami without any more intel and running ragged from their patrols. Now, she had to find the missing boy and give him the information that had been missing. She had been prompted to this task because not only was she available, but she also held a potent potential for tracking reiatsu.

There was no trace of his reiatsu anywhere, but Inoue was a smart girl. She was able to come to the conclusion of where he wouldn't be, knowing his personality, and more importantly where the blimp was. The blimp being the one area in town where nothing seemed to emit at all. Since she had become sensitive, everywhere is Karakura Town seemed to have a lot of reishi, and there were people who held dormant amounts of reiryoku. It had sparked her curiosity that now there was an area in town that seemed practically dead.

No one really went to the warehouse district in Karakura Town. It was used by workers only, but even then a lot had been abandoned due to the economic downturn of the country. Some places had gone bankrupt, and it left buildings laying empty. It would be suitable as a training area if it was ever needed, since like it was dead in spirit it was also dead in people.

Inoue watched as even the animals parted in their paths to walk around this one solitary building. A large barrier stood before her, attempting to erase what she knew had to be a building behind it. If she hadn't come to her own consciousness then she wouldn't have noticed it before. Now it stood like a giant beacon.

"Are you going in?"

Inoue whipped around to face the voice. The woman in front of her bore a strange black cloak over her figure, shadowing any other details. The stature of her body was thin, gaunt even, as if she was rebounding from an illness, and she stood at eye line making her just around the same height, perhaps slightly taller than Inoue. The woman's hair cropped short, and her eyes, while large, were empty. Two holes of black stared straight into Inoue. Her face in all other ways appeared dead, as well; with her mouth tapering not into a scowl but a bland line, and even her skin seemed frozen over her bones.

"Who are you?"

"Ayake Ichiyuko." She cocked her head over the side, examining the girl that stood before her. Innocent large eyes matching her own historic ones. "Are you going in?"

Inoue turned back to face the barrier that she noted was similar to her own powers. Placing a small touch she nodded, instinctually knowing that the woman would notice it. "I have to."

"Take me too then, why don't 'cha."

"Eh?"

During the face off, the two women stared at each other not in anger, not in observation, but in silent approval. Ayake didn't peer through her, as Inoue had first observed, but peered at her. Her observational skills were superb, Inoue considered, as the woman began to speak again. She had let the words flicker through her eyes more than through her mouth to explain that she couldn't get through the barrier on her own, and needed assistance.

Inoue couldn't understand why but grasping the woman's hand to help tug her through the barrier was like gluing herself to the other woman. In fact, that glue had been created as soon as they had spoken to one another. Perhaps, it had been because she had asked for assistance, which would have been the first time in matters such as this.

The two wandered into the main building, Ayake taking up the front, by only a mere two steps, saying that she would be there as defense. She had slipped the cloak around her left shoulder, and holstered the hilt into her hand. They walked through the mess of coaches and magazines. The two were even able to make an odd sort of commentary about the place; down from the living room to the kitchen that was in the back.

"I'm Orihime Inoue," Inoue introduced, flapping her hands around. Ayake spied at her from the corner of her eye, and small twerk at her lip. "I realized I forgot to introduce myself."

"Are you nervous, Inoue?"

Inoue peered at the woman in front of her. She moved with a prancing grace; her feet almost never touching the ground and therefore not even making a sound. From here, she could tell that Ayake was just slightly taller than her; the top of her forehead brushing the line of her hair. Her height, while not imposing, radiated a certainty that she felt staring at Yoruichi's small body. Her body moved when she wanted and how she wanted it to; a complete mastery, even in the illness that she had gone through.

"I'm fine. I'm fine."

Ayake could practically feel the force that Inoue was trying to send at her. Her lofty waving hands weren't helping her case much anyway. "Those guys have never been the type to attack hazardously. You'll be fine."

"Do you know them?"

Ayake took the first step down the staircase. It jostled Inoue when she turned back and spied at her with a smirk finally coming over her mask. "Would that make you feel better?."

The group was clustered right by the bottom of the stair case; some standing, others sitting. They appeared nonchalant, simply scoping out the prey that had wandered into their domain. Inoue's stomach blossomed into a coven of butterflies, whilst Ayake had slipped another mask on.

"I'm just trying to find the restroom." Inoue spluttered out. Ayake peered over at the girl who was beginning to sweat profusely and rub at the back of her head. Closing her eyes for a moment, the older woman breathed in deep to ram the laughter back down. "That's not going to work, will it?"

Ayake opened her eyes back up, noting that they were gleaming with unshed tears of laughter. "I don't believe so. - But at least you got rid of the tension."

The group below were starting to get up and reposition. The joke had broken whatever strings and started the actions that would at least lead the groups into merging. It wasn't, however, until a gigantic all time crash came off on the left side the staircase. The resounding spluttering of rocks, and denting of earth, and shuddering of the air cut through the last remaining moments of tension and had everyone jolting away from their shock.

"And what are you doing with her?" Ichigo jammed her finger over at the woman that was beside her friend. Inoue had made her way through the group and over to the boy, without an incident. They had grown rather numb when they watched the older woman be totted through by her hand towards the wrecked boy.

"We ran into each other, boyo."

"Shut up. I didn't ask you."

"Talking about someone while they're still in the room is rude." Ichigo swiped up his sword again, and made to launch himself over at the woman. Ayake merely shuffled Inoue in front of her, bringing the attention back over to the slightly cowering girl. "She's the one that needs your attention anyway. I'll get back to you."

"Get back - Hey! Wait."

Inoue gently tugged on the Ichigo's sleeve. It took a few moments for the anger to stop crackling as he continued to eye the small woman that was further away from her now. "Don't worry about her Kurosaki-kun."

"How'd you meet her?"

"We just ran into each other outside." Ichigo peered over at the girl, making sure that there was no damage. If what he remembered was right, the woman could have really hurt her. "I have something I need to tell you. From Seireitei."

Ayake had stood away from the group, eyeing them all from the distance as they huddled closer. Every so often they would peak over at her, but they seemed to be more preoccupied about the human girl that was in their midst. She had taken a seat on the steps, and remained there until Inoue had finished up her conversation with the boyo.

"Will you be staying here, Ayake-san?"

Inoue noticed the shudder that seemed to wreck through the entire group as they eyed the two of them. Under the intense scrutiny of their heated gazes, she couldn't help but shuffle her feet. Inoue found a sort of solace when staring back into the blank features of the woman in front. In turn, Ayake paid little mind to the targets painted on the two and inched the girl up the stairs.

"Do me another favor, Inoue." The girl nodded her head. "Don't tell anyone you saw me today."

Inoue nodded again. She thought the request strange but the dormant coldness in Ayake's eyes was enough. She wasn't wearing the traditional garb of a Shinigami to start with, even if she was carrying around a zanpakuto. It was easy to see that the cloak she still adorned was to hide her reiatsu. When all the puzzle pieces aligned, Inoue could make out that she was either doing something that she shouldn't of or was not a friend to the Shinigami.

Ayake watched as the girl scurried away, until another collision ran through the air. Ichigo had already taken up battle with Hiyori, simultaneously forgetting that the other woman was still there. Twisting her head around, she wandered over to where the group finally was. Their conversation staying on the topic of Inoue, as they all remained alert to the fight and the woman that was entering their midst.

"Not that bullshit again." The veins pulsated against Kensei's forehead as he imagined wrapping his two hands around Shinji's neck.

"You say that about all of the cute girls – you've even said that to me before." Lisa popped in, also annoyed at the suddenness of the statement. Her frustration only mounted as she realized she knew little of what was going on, and she rather liked knowing. Even those last pieces of gossip that liked to scurry under the doormat.

"So you say that to all the cute girls! That's funny, I don't remember you saying it to me." Hiyori jammed into the conversation briefly.

"Because I never have." Shinji's words became lost to Hiyori as she had to pay more attention to the boyo who was attempting to smash her into the ground.

Ayake smoothed her attention evenly. The tense muscles of the group around her was enough to put her on guard, and to have her hand constantly resting on the hilt of her sword. She settled down right in the middle of the make-shift group; Kensei and Lisa standing over by her left shoulder, Mashiro laying down behind on the ground, Rose shifting away at her right, Hachigen and Love even further off in the back, and Shinji in front of her. She could grasp the awkwardness in her hands; keeping it alive as she wandered her thoughts away and over to the fight that was still taking place.

 _Will you not say anything to them?_

 _When the time is right._

 _Are you still considering everything that Kisuke was saying?_

 _Of course._ Ayake shuffled around, noting that this time the group had settled. She still had a firm grip on her hilt, but they had all taken the positions they had been in previously. _If Aizen is their king, then Kisuke is ours._

 _So you believe in what he told you about that girl?_

 _Couldn't you sense it? She's not suited for the frontlines._

Reaching her hands up, Ayake unclipped the rest of her cloak and let it slip over her shoulders and to the ground beneath her. The group peered over, each eye latching onto her skin likes leeches from the lake. Shinji's look was the most prominent; him peering back over his shoulder as waved his eyes over the new frame. If Ayake could make out the flashes going through his eyes then she knew what the rest of the group was thinking.

"Not so cute anymore, eh, Shinji-boyo?"

"Tsk." His grin came back, sliding along his thin face. He wiggled his eyebrows, well the one that Ayake could make out from the over the shoulder look. "I'd still tap ya."

Kensei growled out, and shoved his arm around the newest addition. His hand gripped all the way around her bicep as he dragged her away from the blonde flirt. "Don't get in on that shit too."

"Just some fun, boyo."

"You still call everyone that?"

"Of course."

No longer gripping onto the awkward air, Ayake merged in easily to the group. No questions were needed; no words spoken. That night over one hundred years ago had been left steeping into the boiling water of their anger, but with the last member of their group back in action they could let it drain out slightly. The punishments may have been visible on her body, but the sacrifice was entrenched into their very beings. It cuddled them as they informed the girl about the weirdest of hobbies that they had collected; from Kensei's cooking, to Love's manga, and Lisa's magazines.

"Ah!"

Ichigo plummeted down close to the group, sending up pebbles and rocks. He lay prostrate for a moment, getting rid of the dizziness, and staring up at the blonde girl that had sent him crashing. He dug away from the crater, nearly slipping back into it.

When he was finally back on stable ground, he noticed that the woman was still there. He remembered faintly that Renji had called her Ayake. He called her crazy as well. There she was, lounging against the Kensei as if she had always been part of the group. Ichigo felt his eyebrow twitching as she peered over at him. There was an odd sort of gleam in her eyes, as if she was turning her amusement into smugness right before him.

Hiyori hadn't starting attacking him yet, so he might as well take the opportunity. Pointing his finger at her, he declared, "who the fuck are you?"

"Ayake Ichiyuko."

"That's not an answer."

She waved up. Kensei merely shifting around to help her balance out her weight before he let go of her entirely. The group stayed quiet monitoring everything that was going on. When she was finally up straight, knees bent as she cuddled them to her chest she addressed him. "Yes it is. Just not the answer you want, right?"

Ichigo clenched the hilt of his sword in his hand again. Hiyori had marched down from the air and had also joined the group, tossing her own zanpakuto over her shoulder. The brazen girl hadn't even said a word to the named Ayake, but she most certainly wasn't ignoring her. Ichigo had noticed that she had become slightly distracted by the woman that had joined the group. She could have easily gone over to her, but she hadn't once done that, staying back to fight Ichigo instead. The interactions were weird.

Ayake had stood from her spot, and brushed off the dust that had collected there. "How about a fight?"

Ichigo eyed the straining frame. He may not have been the best at sensing reiatsu or whatever, but even he could tell when someone was weak. Her limbs seemed to hang apart from her, and her body was too lithe. Rukia was a small person, but she had some bulk. Ayake stood tall with her muscles like cradles for her decaying bones.

"No way." Ichigo gestured over the whole of her body, and then avidly pointed over to the rest of the group. "I'm training and there's no way you can match up."

"You're only at four seconds." The words compressed in the air and shot straight towards him. "You've been at that stage for the past three days. Who's to say that I can't help you?"

"You're body."

"Eh~ Are you being sexist?"

"Not at all." Ichigo flumped his arms up and down. "If I hadn't seen you that night, I would say you couldn't even hold a zanpakuto."

Ayake peered over at her body and flexed several times. The small muscles shifted around with each turn over her arm. "They look like sticks don't they?"

"Exactly."

"It is true that I'm not nearly the condition I was in before." Ayake drove right through when Ichigo was just beginning to formulate his next words. Where normally someone from the group would toss out comments, they had remained oddly silent through this whole interaction, flipping their eyes between the two as if watching a tennis match. "But even at a quarter of what I was, I can still beat you."

Ichigo noticed the steal resolve in her eyes. They reminded him of the way that Urahara had stared him down before he had left for the Soul Society to rescue Rukia; steeled and glinted, like the very tip of a sword. For as much as she looked ill, the low muscle tone and the posture were that of an old and hardened combatant. His eyes flickered back up to her face, when she began to speak again.

"Besides, we carry the same name."

"Huh?"

"The character for "ichi". - It's the same."

"So?" Ichigo didn't even want to know how she actually knew how to spell his name. He seemed to tremble at the smile that was crossing her lips, just like the one he had seen that night when she tugged Grimmjow from his form.

"So namesake-boyo…" she pulled her sword from her sheath, and began to tap it in that same rhythm that sent him spiraling back to the other night. "I've just got to fight you."


	8. Chapter 7

_"_ _Will you take care of him for me?" Isshin asked. His eyes bore deep into mine own, as if searching for the mentor that he had once known._

 _We had spoken for nearly the entire early afternoon after I had left Kisuke's. Long conversations seemed to be the theme of the day, since everyone had so much to catch me up on. At least, there were finally no more secrets to be held between me and the group of friends and subordinates I used to have. The relationships that had been split and broken over the past one hundred years, while they had morphed, still held the upmost honesty and loyalty in them._

 _Staring into Isshin, I could still make out the remnants of the boy that had stumbled upon me so long ago. It was in the crass way that he was staring me down even now, and the way that he stumbled through his words. "I named him Ichigo after you."_

 _"_ _Pardon?"_

 _Isshin grinned jovially at me, his hands clamping down on my shoulders as he tugged me over to some framed photos on the wall. The sudden movements left me reeling, but I could make out the small orange-haired boy and the woman that Isshin had taken as a wife. Pointing to each of them, Isshin collected me into one crook of his arm, and peered down at me and back at the photo. Enough had changed that at the very least he loomed over me now._

 _"_ _I told Masaki that Ichigo absolutely had to have the same 'I' as your name. - Naming our son strawberry, can't believe she wanted to do that for a moment."_

 _"_ _So we have the same kanji, then?"_

 _"_ _Hai, sensei." Isshin unlocked himself from the picture that held onto the memory he was thinking about. His grin still just as large, as he jostled me trying to shake something out of me. "Besides, you always liked strawberries, didn't you? I heard the word enough times."_

 _I don't think that's the type of care that Isshin was talking about, Ayake-sama._

 _Too bad~~_

I knocked Ichigo quickly done to the ground. Kumo was already wrapped tightly around my hands now, giving me my ten long fingers. He could only hold the mask for up to four seconds at a time, so while Ichigo was most certainly still out of my capabilities I was able to fight against him without much difficulty. Though swift and agile, I could still easily beat him in those areas. Strength was the only differentiation.

"Fuck." Ichigo re-emerged from the ground, spitting out a few of the rocks that had entered his mouth. "How to fuck are you still able to beat me?"

Ichigo came swinging up at me, and having re-administered his mask. The jetline he created was still too slow for me. Dragging the sword upwards, he made to cut me but I flipped around again, gaining a spot of distance before I bounced towards him and gripped onto the sword. Kumo's gloves, as I called them, acted much like a shield, the body almost impossible to penetrate by any sword or kido.

"Honestly, boyo~" I flipped my body around and landed on top of his sword. Sending on leg up, and smashed it into his head and sent him back down to the earth. "Who knows? But it must piss you off to be beaten by a girl like me."

I flopped back to the earth and stood over the crater that I had created. Peering into the dark earth, I removed him from the ground and stood him back up in place. He wobbled slightly, the sudden rush getting to his head. When he regained his footing, his glare intensified and he latched to me.

"Don't." I stopped the hand that was beginning to rise to his face. "I've trained fight-idiots like you before, boyo, but I think you beat them all."

"What'd you say?" His lips rolled back, leaving his teeth to shine as he growled out some sort of retort.

Sighing, I shook my head and forced him to sit on the floor. "The reason you can't beat me is simple - It's because I'm better than you."

"That's bullshit."

"No, seriously, I'm better than you." I made due with fixing up the wrap around my waist. Kumo was already residing in my sheath, humming from the long usage. It had been a long time since I had fought anyone like that before.

He sprung up, pointing his finger at me and his reiatsu flaring up. My blinking eyes were probably not helping him collect any sort of calm. "Don't say stupid shit like that with that look on your face."

 _Isn't there something more constructive, Ayake-sama?_

 _He's an idiot._

 _He is. But you promised Isshin._

 _Isshin didn't tell me his son was an idiot._

 _Ayake-sama…_

Blocking out Kumo's words and watching as Ichigo raved. Isshin had gotten this frustrated once, with his hands manically moving every which way and his hair scattered to every crevice of his scalp. Dust and dirt collecting beneath the fingernails, and sore muscles that were ignored in the fits that put Mashiro to shame. Ichigo certainly got his stupid demeanor from his father, all right.

"Listen," the word seemed to have enough effect, since almost immediately he had stopped his tantrum, "the secret to something like this is to maintain focus, no?"

"I guess."

"If you focus too much on the mask then you can't focus on the training and the environment." I pointed deftly over to the side where Hachigen was now speaking to Inoue. Ichigo blinked several times before he jumped his head between them and me. "You didn't even notice when she came back in."

Slipping down, Ichigo positioned himself on the ground. Isshin's stupid scowl had come across again, and that damn crunch when he placed his head on his curled up fingers. His other hand lay loosely on his lap, almost wanting to start fiddling with the fabric of his hakama. I lowered down to a squat so that I could be more eye level with him.

"I can beat you because I can multitask, boyo. You were right when you said that I wasn't a match, but I have more experience than you do and that makes up for that fact." My knees knocked together as I leaned forward a touch. My arms lay prostrated over to the curve of my knees, dangling stiff like zombie-arms with only my hands bent over my wrists. "Observational awareness is something learned, but you getting frustrated all this while is not helping."

"So what do I do?"

"Who knows," I dragged out the syllabal, just as he was becoming too relaxed. His face drained for a moment before collecting a bright sheen of red. Just before he could go off again, I jumped in, "I'm kidding, boyo."

"You're pissing me off."

He eyed me as I brought one hand up and brought it so that it combed through my hair. The sweat was just beginning to stick, and it was making the short hairs shoot up with each pull through. "You've never trained like a normal Shinigami, so it might not help but in order to draw power you need to know where it's coming from."

"From the damn hollow."

 _He's really an idiot._

 _You should just finish teaching him, Ayake-sama._

"Ichigo," I sighed out his name after my long deep breathe. "What is a zanpakuto?"

"A spirit."

"Right - well sort of." He finally turned more fully to me, his pout leaving his face. The flow of determination seemed to give me just enough of a boost to finish this off, even if he was a complete idiot. "A zanpakuto is the manifestation of the other half. It is you, and you are it."

"Eh?"

"You are both Ichigo and Zangetsu. So you're not drawing power from Zangestu, so much as the part of you that is Zangestu."

"So I'm the one with the power."

"No Zangestu is."

"Then what the fuc—"

"You don't have to get it right now," I cut through, his grumpy twitch of his eyebrows coming back. The concept was hard enough to explain to students in Seireitei, so it made sense that even he was having problems with it. "The hollow is the same thing."

Ichigo crossed his two arms together, trying to burn me with his eyes. "He suddenly just appeared. No way he's part of me."

"Look." Finally the sharp notes of my voice came through. It was enough that I was the one stuck having to attempt to teach him something that Urahara should have done much earlier. From what I could tell Ichigo had to learn the hard way how to draw out powers. "Boyo, stop shitting yourself. You're part hollow, whatever. You're still resisting that very fact. - You want its powers, then you got to be at peace. Right now you're strangling yourself."

"I don't understand."

My own mask slipped away. I could feel my own skin moving as the muscles furrowed my eyebrows into a glare and my throat strangled back the growl that was crawling out. "Do you, or do you not have a zanpakuto?"

"Yes."

"Do you or do you not have a hollow?"

It seems that I was scaring him enough into processing what I was saying. He had shuffled back to avoid the looks, but I had grasped onto his top so that he wouldn't move. We bore into each other; mocha chocolate eyes, peering into the black abyss of mine. He took longer to respond, but finally he gave out a prompt, "Yes."

"Then quit moping about all of that, and focus on your inner world. You can't use Zangetsu effectively because you are worried about the hollow, and you can't use the hollow effectively because you want to use Zangetsu. You reek of fear and its pissing me off."

"I—"

"Everything is one in the same; you, your zanpakuto, and your hollow. Stop thinking like you have to control different things. It's not like that - you control the whole, and the whole is all three."

I unlatched from the boyo and settled down into a cross legged position. Ichigo slowly made to move as he readjusted the shirt and peered down at the twist of his legs. We lapsed into silence. He seemed to have finally absorbed what I was saying; his lips no longer grounding out and his eyes finally finishing their quivering. It happened that sometimes I knew that he was glancing over at me, and when it finally became the case that we had spent much too long not talking, the group was finally edging up along our backs. He was just about to ask something when they decided to intercede.

"If you're not going to train him, then let me back at him, Yuko." Hiyori squatted down low next to me, zanpakuto already out and her snaggletooth protruding through that closed lip grin.

I peered over at the small blonde runt. "You've become reckless."

"I wasn't before?"

"Are you bored?"

"Stop that you dumb bitch." Hiyori clamped her hand around my shoulder and tossed me over to the other side of the training ground. I lost the next sentence she said over the swiping of air by my ear.

 _She's as volatile as ever._

 _You're taking this so casually, Ayake-sama. She just threw you._

 _Don't bother getting into a huff Kumo. I'm not at the stage where I can take her on._

I skidded down to the ground, thumping and twisting over and over again, until I landed somewhere near Shinji. My eyes lay somewhere on the painted sky as his form passed over me. The man's cool fingers slinked around and dragged me up so that my head lay on his lap. Then he dragged them down, vibrating my skin with the soft touch. He swiftly moved on, taking up my hands so that he could peer at my wrists. Even when he finished his inspection, he lay me to rest on his lap, continuing his subtle watch over the new fight.

"Hiyori mentioned something interesting just now."

"That's a first."

A wicked grin protruded again as he stared down at me. He rolled his tongue over his teeth, flashing me a tongue ring, and then swallowed it back down along with the joke that he was going to make at her dispense. Seems that the seriousness in his eyes was not something that he wanted to pass by just yet.

"Certainly did a number on you, didn't they?"

"I was a co-conspirator." I shrugged and shifted around so that my ear was pressing against his thigh and I could watch the fight as well.

Hiyori for her part was yapping away at something, showering him with useless curses and triggering words. It didn't seem to be enough to bother him anymore but he was obviously frustrated by the incapability of holding on to the mask, though it had just ticked over into 5 seconds. He didn't even bother to perk at the new revelation, nor acknowledge the way his reiatsu was coming out in new tidal waves. He still seemed sucked in the meaningless interior fight he was having. Ichigo was moving much better than he had been, although he was still lacking that extra push. He would get there though. Just a matter of time.

"Whatever you said seems to have helped."

"I've taught enough barbarians to know what to say."

Shinji tugged on my shoulder until I was rolled around and facing him again. Even then, while he looked straight at me, his hand anchored me to the shores of his words. "You don't have to go back to those guys, you know. You could stay here."

"They locked up my reiatsu. I need to go back."

"Been to Kisuke's then?"

"Of course. It was my first stop."

"Should have guessed it."

Shinji leaned back, until he flopped backwards with his hands underneath his head. He slide his legs up, attempting to get me to roll down and landed into his torso. I picked myself up and gestured over to Inoue at the stairwell. She stopped and stood waiting for me as I fixed my cloak and the rest of my appearance.

I noted the look in Shinji's eyes that seemed to become lances whenever new reiatsu would appear. "Yes. I know there's a Shinigami outside."

"As long as you know."

"I'm already in trouble." I meandered my way through the crowd of Vizards and over towards Inoue. "I'll see you guys on the battle front."

Ichigo clambered up from the ground. Hiyori had flown ahead once the dinner-time call had been shouted. It was easy to tell that she had been distracted the entire day from her way of fighting. Although it hadn't been an impediment to her scowls and her strength, the mood was just slightly off. He wondered over those words as he made his way up to the group that was clambering around for food.

After that woman Ayake had spoken to him he had found a new resolve. He hadn't realized that it had been missing, but there was tension in the way he was thinking about things. What did it mean that he had a hollow? Nothing more than that he had something else to dive into. Or at least that's what he had interpreted from what the woman was saying. As soon as she made an attempt to teach him something, she had backtracked and didn't teach him anything. It was too convoluted a solution.

Ichigo wrung out his shoulders and looked around the group. "Where's that Ayake woman anyway?"

"She left." Lisa had heard him come over and shoved a bowl of rice at him.

"You didn't even notice, did you?" Shinji joked as he leaned back in his chair, one hand holding chopsticks to his mouth and the other rummaging through his hair. "My first love~. Gone away again."

Kensei threw his ladle at the man's head, shouting at him that he had said something completely opposite just earlier and he left grumbling that nobody took things seriously in this place. A few in the group snickering that Shinji would never be able to obtain her anyway. Lisa made sure to comment that she wasn't his to begin with.

Ichigo pondered over her entrance and then her abrupt exit. Renji had said that he wouldn't be seeing her anymore, so that meant that she had come without the jurisdiction of the soul society. He had never spotted her around Urahara and Yoruichi, so that meant that she had also been absent during his time training over at the shop. As far as he could tell, Ichigo thought over her appearance, she was sickly looking but she had tons of fighting experience in the way she moved. She certainly was a Shinigami herself.

"Who was she?" The group paused and looked over towards him, grounding him into the spot with the amount of reiatsu that was being heaped onto his shoulders. "I mean she's a Shinigami, isn't she? You hate them."

"Don't be stupid kid," Love tolled out, "she's as much as Shinigami as Urahara is."

"So not a soul reaper then."

"Jeez, this kid." Kensei grumbled from the back and smacked Ichigo over the head. "She's no one important, alright."

Ichigo thought differently, since it had been the most compassionate he had even seen the group act towards someone other than themselves.


	9. Chapter 8

I had gotten lucky, or perhaps they had taken some leniency. No one made a comment about the abrupt rise in my reiatsu when I got back to the soul society. I hadn't even been called back to the Sou-taicho like I had prepared for. Instead, Kuchiki Rukia opened up the doors, led me through, and I was greeted by none other than Ukitake Jushiro. He smiled widely, gesturing that I should come further into his world and asked me to prepare some tea. I hadn't even needed to hide the cloak that I had worn, although I'm almost certain he knew exactly what it was.

Soul Society was in the calm directly before the storm. I could feel it in the way that everyone was silently preparing. No one uttered a curse or a complaint, taking on the work to their own shoulders as they hunkered down for war. Free time was spent dawdling in sweat and ramming their zanpakutos at one another. The air pilfered those scents everywhere, among the tossed ones of blood and food and paper. Everyone had noticed the clock that was ticking down.

Orihime Inoue had settled in easily in the thirteenth squad. Governed over by Rukia, the two girls spent endless days out in the fields and running amuck to the earth. Inoue's defense potential had risen, and Rukia's offense had gotten better, although not nearly as much. The Shinigami was fighting someone without much offensive potential so it the disproportionate amount of time spent on developing one side, left the other more barren.

From my perch in the trees, I eyed the cellphone that Kisuke had managed to slip onto my body without my noticing. Most likely having done it whilst I had been passed out. Technically, there was no one that I should be in contact with. He had created a secret pocket in my dressings so that I could carry it on me at all times, without anyone noticing that it was there.

The technology was odd, and I had spent hours going through the mechanics of it or texting questions over to Kisuke. In return, he found them humorous, to the point I could see his boisterous laughter, but he replied nonetheless and gave apt answers. He had given it to me to communicate, but hadn't sent over much information; just that Ichigo was still "missing", Abarai was training another human, and the Shinigami were doing their jobs. When asked, I responded that I was keeping an eye out for Inoue, whilst in the midst of my own training.

It was slow going. The process of coming back into my body was taking ages, but I was starting to feel it through the aches and pains. If I could only get this damn limiter off then I would be able to make my way through the rest of my powers without hesitation. At the very least, Kumo was coming through my head loud and clear at every moment of the day. There was even a moment earlier when he had materialized into a faint outline, although it had taken almost all of my strength.

 _I understand your frustration Ayake-sama, but perhaps we should continue with the strength training that we set out._

 _I'm getting bored of that._

 _So am I, but you don't see me complaining._

 _You don't have a big enough mouth to do that._

 _Ayake-sama…. How rude._

 _Oh, shut up Kumo._

I flipped around and landed on my feet. The two girls continued their bouts of training, coming back and forth with whichever practice they were on. I marched my way towards the main building of the squad and then out the gates. The onmitsukido was still high on my tail, energized by their mishaps of letting me parade right into the human world without their noticing. They saddled up right next to me, tightening my dog collar as they went. When would they realize that I knew that they were always there? Soi-fon had better have told them I'm not to be messed with.

 _Ayake-sama…_

 _I thought I told you to shut up Kumo._

 _Don't take your frustrations out on me, child._

The stone floors slide beneath me as I continued my parade. _Apologies then, Kumo._ I came to a rest outside the barracks of the eighth. I hadn't really bothered to see Kyoraku was that discussion months ago. The last time we got into a minor tiff, it had ended with him sulking outside my door for two weeks. This time he seemed set on ignoring my very existence. That man was nearly as impossible as I remembered him being, with his childish forms of getting attention from me. He had to learn how to make up his own damn mind.

I flashed up to the top of the building and stood over his lounging form, creating a horizontal shadow over his hat. From the corner of my eye I could make out the smallest scuttle as his lieutenant attempted to hide herself. Undoubtedly she had come here after searching so that he would go back in and finish the work he had been putting off.

"Arre~ Yuko-chan, you seem to be in a foul mood." He had tilted the hat up from his eyes, pushing it back so that it rested on the skin of his forehead. My eyes must have slid into a glare without my knowing it, as I tried to peer through the walls at the lieutenant.

"I wonder why that is." I placed one leg on either side of him and began to duck into a low squat over his body. His eyes followed my frame and as if that was enough to beckon me closer, I zoomed in towards his face as far as I could without losing my balance. "Let's go a few rounds."

"It's too nice of a day to have a fight."

"Then let's play a game." I knocked my knees down to the roof and straddled the man. Bending over slightly, I placed my two hands by the sides of his head. His wafting hand came to a standstill and then lowered off to the side, between the window of my arm and my thigh, without touching me once. His eyes peeked open slightly, eyeing me though the lids. "I'm bored. Let's play some tag."

"The last time we did this it didn't end well."

"I don't give a fuck."

The man sighed and sat up abruptly, splaying his two hands on my back to keep me straddling him on his lap. One hand crept slightly so that it was angled right at my hip, his fingers lightly wrapping around the curve. My hands slide back to my side, only snagging against his robes once. His famous grin slowly came back; the glimmer from his teeth crunching at my already annoyed mood.

"Are you still angry at me lovely Yuko-chan?"

"Why don't you come and find out?" I gave me best endearing smirk and slide out of his grip when his hands came very close to locking in on me. Continuing with a few flips across the roof, I gave a final push so I had enough height in the air before I flash stepped at the height of the arc, away from the eighth division.

Nanao must have been surprised when I tossed in a much ruffled Kyoraku after a long two hours of flash-tag. From the face she was making, he was probably mumbling about how she had to treat his injuries and attend to his breaking heart. She sent me a furious glance, to which I merely shrugged. She would have to forgive me.

"I won the last round so he promised he'd get his paper work done."

Kyoraku shifted around so that he was lazily laying down on one side, his head resting against his hand. "My lovely Yuko-chan was awfully inspired today."

"That's not it." I huffed and offered to help him stand with two very crude flick of my wrist. I pulled his weight up, letting him place his hands on my shoulders as he came to full height. "Sorry for stealing him for so long."

"As long as he fulfills his promise, then it can more than make up for both of yours' negligence." Her glasses flashed as she pushed them up her noise. She really hadn't grown out of that rule-abiding child that she had set out to be. "Although, please refrain from causing such a disturbance again, Ayake-san."

Kyoraku pulled me in close to his chest, wrapping his two long arms around my body and leaning in so he was hunkered down over my smaller frame. It was a good thing I had put on some more muscle in the time away, otherwise it would have completely overwhelmed me. He shuffled his head closer, scratching my skin with his unkempt beard.

He never acted on his noble status nor his captain status to gain his underlings, rather liking to acquaint himself through flirting. It was a wonder that he got any women into his squad at all, with the amount of perversion that leaked off of him. I restrained myself from nudging him away. After any conflict, he always acting like a little puppy trying to ease his way back into the good graces with light touches and a cuddling. Baring his touches would demonstrate that I was at least willing to put behind whatever words had been spoken.

 _It's not like you don't like being cuddled, Ayake-sama._

 _So you finally reappear, only to make rude comments?_

 _Pay back._

 _Shut up._

 _Did he steal away your ability to speak as well?_ I could make out the faint snickering that was floating around my head.

"Yuko-chan doesn't really like formalities, Nanao-chan." He had been rubbing so long now that the itching feeling was eroding on its own. The only down side when someone didn't push Kyoraku off, was that he had no idea when to finish.

"Are you done scenting me?" I nudged him away, ignoring the puppy eyes that he was trying to send towards me. I directed him into the chair that he should have been saddled and strapped to a long time ago. Once he was seated I picked up the pen and settled it into his hands, whilst simultaneously dunking his head towards the desk. I slipped a paper into his eye line that needed to be signed. "You should get out of here Nanao. I'll make sure he finishes the work."

It was easy to get her out of the room, even though her own paperwork still wasn't finished. She had completed a lot more than I originally supposed, but there was still tons to do. Since, unfortunately, both squads seven and eight were so close to the ninth, it meant the former two had been gifted with a bit more paperwork than normally occurred. Now, with the tenth also without its ring leaders, an even greater amount seemed to come through. Kyoraku being the way that he was, it was no surprise to find that things were a bit lopsided in terms of the work.

I shifted through a few of the papers that she had been working on, as Kyoraku began to scribble away. Plopping down into her chair, I resolved myself to get as comfortable as possible. "I feel bad for her."

"Did you say something, Yuko-chan?"

"It's a wonder you've gotten Nanao to stick with you all these years. I was so sure she would have balked at the thought of dealing with your negligence."

"Yare~ so harsh, Yuko-chan. You're the one that wanted to play a game of tag."

"You wouldn't have done anything productive in that time anyway."

Instead of responded he merely sighed again, and dumped his head on the table. With his cheek pressed again the wood, I felt his eyes tracing over me. Tucking the paper so that the top corner folded, without causing a crease, I eyed him through the empty space. It hadn't even been five minutes and he was already trying to dump all the work on me.

Ignoring the look, I turned back to the paper. I was in luck that Nanao had been in such a rush to get out of the room. In her wake, she had left a rather untidy desk countering her very polite and rigid nature. I knew they had been writing reports about me. It wasn't really that surprising, but it be nice if I had a fire right now. I'd love to see the way that the paper crinkled up and then crisped into ash. That dog collar was getting a bit too tight for my liking.

My eyes narrowed again as I re-read the words, noting that they had sensed my shift in reiatsu and hadn't been able to re-apply the tracking kido. Ukitake had stood up for me on this occasion, saying that it wasn't warranted, and therefore the orders had been trapped in pending. At any moment they could come through again.

There were notes about me overseeing Inoue, supposing that I made some sort of link up with the other humans around Kurosaki Ichigo. However, the words were written in such a manner as if to demonstrate that I had become prostrate and inactive. Soi-fon was getting to full of herself, and the onmitsukido was lacking.

 _Will you do something about this, Ayake-sama?_

 _In time, I guess. They just have to realize I'm better off with all my powers. Although, I don't fully understand why it is they think I don't deserve them._

 _You believe they are acting against you?_

 _Well~ They're certainly trying to keep me in place._

"What do you want now, taicho?" I sounded; the echoes of his tongue as it clicked away at his teeth finally pinching my nerves. He had slumped down against the desk and was fiddling with the pen by rolling it against the wood of the table with just his forefinger.

"Hm~" His eyes spun a different tale as he swiftly turned his eyes over towards me. "I wasn't doing anything."

"I'm staying here as long as you are so get this done, why don't ya?"

"That just means I'll have to prolong it. - I've been missing my lovely Yuko-chan."

Formally settling the paper back down on the desk, I got up from the seat and made my way back over. Kyoraku hadn't changed a bit, with his flirting routine. Didn't he know that he had to stay updated and fresh?

 _And that's why you're responding as such, Ayake-sama?_

 _You certainly pick the right moments, Kumo._

 _Someone has to protect you from indecency._

I motioned for Kyoraku to slide forward in his chair. With a quirked eyebrow he did so; dramatically sliding to the front so that his feet were firmly planted on the floor and his back could no longer lean against the cushions of the chair. I stepped up, and sank into the space between the back of the chair and his warmth. Pressing close, I wrapped my two arms around his shoulders and as I began to sit down, my two legs wrapped around his waist to keep me up. I clung to him like a satchel, although it made little difference with his strength and my light weight.

"Is this enough attention, Kyoraku-taicho?" I blew on the piece of his ear, as he shifted around with my weight.

His chuckles shook my frame, jostling so I had to readjust and cling closer to him. The hand not holding on to the pen came and crept up the line of my leg, helping me to tighten my position. "Don't hurt yourself, lovely."

"You're such a flirt." I spied his work over his shoulder. He had been smart to at least get rid of anything that could have my name on it. "I don't know how you think that gets a lady's attention."

"So cruel, Yuko-chan. - It got you over here."

"I'm not much of a lady Kyoraku."

He continued to sign away at the papers, me peering over his shoulder and latching onto him. Kyoraku made no mention of the position we were in, only silently continuing to work with a slow hum coming through his mouth. Every so often his left hand would come up and grasp onto my arm, leveraging me closer to his shoulders. Every single time, I could feel the way the muscles worked beneath me, sliding across my body, even threw the three layers of clothing he had on and the two layers that I was adorning.

"Do you always smell like sake?" I clamped my cheek down to his shoulder and peering out the window by his desk, tired of watching him scribble away. "Perhaps, you're drinking too much."

"Worried about my health, Yuko-chan?"

"Not really."

"You're adorable when you start caring about people."

"It was an observation Kyoraku." One of my hands slipped down, laying at the opening of his top. Not making any other movements, he clamped his hand around mine own. "If you're not dead yet, you've got plenty of health."

I slipped my calves away from him and nestled my feet into the small cracks by the sides of his legs. Now in a deep squat, I had more control although the body heat was pressing too close for me to want to do anything really. I sighed again, and let him fiddle around with my fingers as he continued his work. I shimmed my toes against his thighs, and felt the reaction as his lungs jolted in a quick breathe. There was a small thrum as his heart beat came through.

"You're so cruel to me Yuko-chan." The pen spat out a loud sound as it came into contact with the table. Kyoraku leaned back ever so slightly, readjusting so that his head tilted into my shoulder. "A little retribution, is it?"

"Do you want me to seek that?" We were looking at each other from the corner of our eyes. Knowing he had me trapped with a good grip on my hand and my body in between his and the chair, he knew that he had me at a disadvantage. "I gave up on that a long time ago."

"Did you?"

"I've had a century to ponder all sorts of questions. Your forgiveness was granted to you a long time ago." I crawled from behind him, around his arm, to sit upon his desk. My other hand still firmly cemented into his grasp. "Don't ask me to favor your own guilt."

He forewent holding onto my hand, so that he could place his two hands on the desk, giving me the moment to escape if I had wanted to. I stared momentarily at his chest, watching it pulsate with the few breathes his took before I wandered up to match his gaze. As if that was the consent he needed, he drove forward, dumping his weight onto my body, and leaning his head into the volume of my chest.

"Are we done fighting?"

"I didn't even know that we were."

He shifted again, and I gained more of his weight. His hands came to cradle upon against my thighs, peppering the skin with tiny flicks of his fingers, before he wrapped them soundly around my hips. Hoisting himself back onto his own two feet, he brought himself face to face. "Since when have you ever let me do this?"

"Hm?"

"You've never allowed me to touch you so freely." His hands smoothed the way up my top and cradled at my waist. "To torture me is it?"

"Don't use that fucking word."

"Apologies, Yuko-chan."

 _I stepped out, nearly collapsing underneath the sudden release. The large doorway fell further behind me as I managed down the hall. My feet tapped, shaking with each push as the firmness in the air intensified. The vision in front of me blurred but closing my eyes made the suffocating sensations stronger._

 _Plop, fell the thick, sticky liquid as I wavered in my steps. My hands felt stuffed with mud and rigid from the cracked skin. My nails dug against the gravel like stone. The wall gathered up what was left of my strength, as the coolness felt good beneath my humid hands. The floor was suddenly underneath me the sweat already running down my face._

 _Every few drops or two, I would close my eyes, before they would flicker open again. Two figures emerged further down at the end of the tunnel. Each time I opened my eyes the figures grew closer and closer, until, even from a distance I could make out the soft cherry blossom color from one of the robes. The tapping grew closer, rhythmically increasing in frequency and then faded out with my vision. The swollen sounds replaced the blurred images, and then touch was the only sense I had left; a tight grip upon my triceps, felt almost pleasant if not damaging._

 _The images that had grown darker, flickered on catching a blinding white color. Wooden beams shooting across the sky and even through the myopic vision I could see the knots within the rotting wood. The floor underneath me shifted, and then the torturous shaking began. I could feel my body convulsing, the sweat building along my brown. I winced as the lightest breeze curled along my exposed skin. My teeth knocked against each other, and I tried to stop the shaking; the tension disappearing and reappearing along the lines of my shoulders. Steady hands gripped onto my arms, dragging me up limb for limb. The wall felt strong, pushing back against my spine, digging into the ripped skin._

 _"_ _Jeez, Yama-jii." A hand wrapped around my forehead. The shocking warmth had my head fluttering away with the help of the breeze which pushed it over. Then naturally, I leaned into the thickening warmth._

 _A whiteness fell over me for a second, before the lights hit my face again. The fabric over my body felt odd; it grated over the exposed skin. Those same hands as before lifted me from the slicked floors. I turned into the warmth, digging my head into the padded flesh. I was moving; the air lapped against my fingers, which I tried to curl. My body jolted with every sharp step, bashing into the strong body beneath me._

 _Suddenly a different type of warmth fell upon the top of my head as I continued to fly down the path. Half-tilting my head towards the sun. I leaned back, pressing into the arms that held me, and gathered the sunlight for my pale skin. My eyes fluttered closed from the slow, steady, rocking; the swaying of the body behind me, rocking me into calmness that I could vaguely remember from years ago._


	10. Chapter 9

"Inoue. Rukia." The two girls were in the middle of a break, and had settled into the grassy plains to chat. They had looked up as I set the tray filled with tea and some confectionary snacks right between them.

I titled the teapot, watching the now colored tea stream out from the spout. As the tea swirled out, it didn't splash or splutter. When it came about an inch from the top of the glass, I stopped and proceeded on to the next cup. The movements were always robotic; habitual in their nature and nearly soothing in its memory. Like the tea itself, I could pour out the thoughts by sinking into the rhythm of serving.

"That was quick." Rukia noted, as I swiped at the spout with a cloth. "I've never been able to pour tea that smoothly."

"And you call yourself a noble." I chimed as I placed the pot down and made sure that the table wouldn't jostle under the new weight. Rukia spluttered for a moment, trying to gain my attention with random quips but soon died down.

 _Could she tell you were joking, Ayake-sama?_

 _Probably not. But who cares~_

"Are you also a noble, Ayake-san?"

I turned my attention away from the blades of grass, and over to the burnt orange eyes that were gleaming over at me. She must have learnt a bit about Seireitei and the noble families to have phrased it in such a way.

"No." The girls looked rather keen on the different conversation. Perhaps, they had lapsed into a silence after the past weeks they had been together. "I grew up in the outer districts of Rukongai."

"I didn't know that."

I threw a well-mannered look over to Rukia's flushed face, as she quickly lowered her gaze down to the teacup she was holding. I turned my gaze up towards the floating clouds, letting my hands fly up and stretch as if to touch them. I could hear the shifts of their clothing, perhaps to look more fully at me or to see what I was doing. The sun came blasting over the cloud, and I blinked away the spots as I claimed the images of my two compatriots.

"I found myself awakened in spring. I thought it was so very odd to see leaves, and grass sprouting through the dirt. I didn't know why it put my off so much to see the sun so bright and to be warmed down to the very soles of my feet. - When the first snow came, I realized that I had died in the snow."

"Ah," Inoue whispered, "most souls forget their memories don't they?"

"Correct." Rukia pointed out, after swallowing a bit of tea. "It's helps when they're passing over. The time lapse in seasons isn't even that strange… Time moves differently here than in the human world, but if it's not that then months can pass before pluses are sometimes sent here so seasons can shift without them ever knowing."

"So then it's impressive that you've remembered so much, Ayake-san."

"Hardly." I swung my hand up and chopped at her next words. Inoue's doe eyes blinked several times as her head slowly sank backwards from me. "A lot of people remember small details."

The girls fell into silence, every now and again slipping into a comment. It wasn't so much that they were ignoring me. It was more that they were closer, and I was the outsider of the group. I sunk my weight into my hands as I leaned my head backwards again. The sun's rays pulsed through me, sinking down to the very soles of my feet just as it had done those years ago. While many memories are forgotten as a human baby, the first impressions a soul obtains are defining.

"So what district were you from then, Ayake-san?"

I spun my head towards her, feeling my throat bobble as I swallowed. "I came from the 62nd district, of the southern territory."

Rukia's tea spluttered and she let out a few hacking coughs. Pounding at her chest her eyes rose to meet mine. Wordlessly I read her wide eyes, and she read the smirk that was crawling along my face. The young adopted noble shifted around, patting at her clothing to hurriedly get rid of the tea that was soaking in. Even after a hundred years, it seems that the district still offers quite a bit of discomfort to some.

Inoue attempted to gather some facts from our body language, but when that failed she aimed for the most potent question. "Is it not a good district?"

"Anything under 50, is pretty much a bad district." I pulled myself up again and leaned my head into my hands as I peered over at the human girl. "Why so much interest?"

"I just wanted to get to know more about you."

 _How innocent she is. Are all humans like this?_

 _Kisuke was right to get her out of the field. To touch something so pure. Don't you agree Ayake-sama?_

 _Shall we test how pure she is?_

"Well, I guess I don't mind sharing with the class then." I linked my fingers together and flipping them so that my hands lay palms up, I stretched out my back before slouching back down. "South 62nd is not so much a bad place, as it is an immoral place."

"So then?"

"It's basically known as the brothel district."

Rukia scrubbed harder at the mess that wasn't even visible on her clothes. Inoue blinked several times before a blush ran rampant across the features of her face. Twirling a small blade of grass between my fingers, I eyed her with a new grin coming crossing my face. The human girl shifted only slightly under my gaze, though she could barely catch my eye as she turned her face down towards the ground.

"No need to be shy," I slipped right back into the conversation, through the awkward blanket. "It's rather natural that a place such as that would exist… And I said that it was known as, not that everyone partook."

"You weren't a…" Inoue cut her words off before she could even formulate what to call me. Her wide eyes seemed to finish the festering sentence before she took control at the speed that her mouth was moving at.

"A whore? Nah, wasn't my job." The girls visible relaxed, their shoulders unbundling as I waved my hand right before my nose. "I served tea, and gave massages. Danced sometimes for entertainment."

"You got very lucky then."

"Hm~~. Guess so."

 _The spring had come around again. After the first snow had fallen, I had remembered the way that the ice had traveled through my veins and the imprints of white dust that had stayed upon my feet. There was the foggy memory of being able to slip of shoes, but shoes didn't exist in the 62_ _nd_ _district so this snowfall I had adorned nothing. For the past year, I had adorned nothing but a small ragged cloth that I had been able to pick up. It had come from somewhere in the street, and had been worn by someone else but I had stolen it. Was it considered stealing if I took it from the ground, outside of one of the houses where people were always screaming?_

 _The snow that had fallen and had melted away had reminded me that I was empty like the plains of ice that I could briefly recall; where no stranger had ever passed, and the snow had been left untampered. Just like then, I was still empty. Not even a name to call myself, or an image to recognize as being. I existed in the plane of knowing that something existed around me. Instead of snow, I stood in the middle of a long dirt path, with run-down buildings that trembled from the happenings inside and poured out noises from the windows and the doorways._

 _"_ _A kid?" someone whispered. It was always the same reaction, no matter which street I walked along._

 _There were very few people that were my height. The rest towered over me. I had to believe I was younger for this fact, and the name that they called me "kid". I had presumed early on that it was my actual name, until I had bumped into someone that stood at my height. They had called that person "kid" as well. I had then though it might have been the other name, "girl". But I had heard it when I was passing by one of the houses, so I knew it didn't refer to me either. It was then that I realized I was back at square one, with nothing to call myself by._

 _A hand clasped onto my shoulder and shuffled me around. A woman had squatted down, peering at my figure. She grabbed onto my fingers and then onto my toes, twisting and circling them around. Her hands wandered up my legs, feeling over my clothing at my ribs, and then away from my body by tracing over my hair. She sucked in my face, digging her fingers in my cheeks and twisting my head towards the left and then the right._

 _She was an odd woman, with one brown eye. The other was just a hollow hole. The skin of her eyelid had slopped down and covered up less than half, and the thin twine of eyelashes only blocked out some of the picture that was a dark trench in her face. Her fingernails were long; biting and cutting at my skin as she continued her examination._

 _Her hair created a large dome on the top of her head, giving her extra height. But she was small, standing only slightly above me, and she was thin with her chest bones poking out through the skin. She was dressed in a ragged kimono. I would learn later that the colors had been added by rolling flowers into a paste, and then painting the fabric. After the paint dried though, it was stiff and left her unapproachable, much like her face had done._

 _"_ _Are you new?"_

 _"_ _I think so." Language was something I had been born with. I had recognized immediately when people began to speak, although I had been missing several of the words that were spoken. They had taken me a long time to learn and to recognize, much like the words kid, girl, and boy. "Who are you?"_

 _"_ _You're a rude one." Her fingers finally unclenched my face, and I rubbed at the irritated skin as she moved away from me. "But that's fine."_

 _"_ _Excuse me?"_

 _Consciousness as a soul was a weird thing, I would also discover. What was there to remember if I had nothing before this? And yet I felt empty knowing that there was something that I should have known to begin with, but couldn't remember. The thoughts had looped endlessly through my head, even as I would later go on to the Shinigami academy._

 _I had been born into knowing something and not knowing other things. I had no memories of learning the things I knew how to do, like walking, breathing, or talking. Much like my name, the thoughts had disappeared and I was never able to dredge up where the knowledge had come from. I thought it weird that I thought about how I should or should not be remembering things at all._

 _It was the same reaction when I talked to people. I could read people pretty well, even if they only demonstrated a few characteristics in this place. Instincts led me away from the rougher areas of the place I was in, and I was able to escape things that made my stomach twist. I was never able to find out why I had known those things._

 _"_ _Listen, do you get hungry?"_

 _"_ _A bit."_

 _"_ _Alright then." The woman snapped up my arm in hers and tugged my down the street. Some watched curiously, while others went along their business. The streets were always quiet during the day. "I'll give you food, as long as you help me out."_

 _"_ _Ichiyuko." She gifted me not moments later when she pulled me into what I learned to be the brothel she ran._

 _My name broke down into three distinct parts: the kanji for "ichi" meaning one, the second character "yu" meaning gentleness, lithe, and superior, and the third kanji, "ko" meaning child. Ayake was Chiyo's surname, and it was passed along to me once she had deemed me intelligent enough. I realized after a few years into my stay, that Chiyo was teaching me the ins and the outs of her business so that I could take over from her. And that was why she had given me her name; to create a legacy._

 _I don't know how Chiyo had come to be a soul with so much knowledge, but I had been lucky I realized. The time I spent with her was an easy life in comparison to most of the district. At first she taught me only how to pour tea and then to leave the room. Then she taught me about the human body. More significantly, because she couldn't hide it, she taught me about men. With learning about men, I learned how to speak. More accurately, I learned how to seduce, although Chiyo also made sure to teach me how to speak to superiors for she never allowed me to get away with casualty around her._

 _Her knowledge was even more than that though. Since I had time upon my hands, and was not run tirelessly during the evenings, Chiyo had me doing chores around the brothel for lessons on reading and writing. Sometimes when a few of the girls hadn't had a long night of entertainment, they would join me and take care of the brothel._

 _During the night it was Chiyo's time to control. During the day, I was the sole one keeping order of the place and, thus, I was left alone even when the other girls would sometimes join me on the cleaning rota. I cooked and cleaned the place down every day. Everything from the waste in the bathrooms, to the kitchen, to the stains on the few futons we had._

 _While the 62_ _nd_ _was not rich, hand-me-downs always passed through the cracks and Chiyo had gotten a few items to set up shop. There were only about three futons, and they cost much more than the other rooms that were used. More often than not, the girls snuck in when the rooms weren't occupied, but Chiyo still did good business either way._

 _None of the other girls had learnt how to read or write, I learned, but they had very little interest in doing so. They chided at me, saying that it wasn't a skill that was needed. All a girl needed to do was know how and when to talk to the man she was accompanying. More importantly, the man came first with his needs, and all words were meant to soothe his soul and give him comfort._

 _I kept the knowledge to myself after a particular scolding by one of the oldest girls in the brothel. Never seeking out to brag about the talents that I was learning; reading, writing, and basic knowledge of figures. Talents that they belittled because of envy, but also because it differentiated me from them. It hurt the two of us groups equally._

 _But I was delirious with the concept of obtaining knowledge, even if I never spoke about it. I tore through all the books that I could find, going days searching through rummages of trash to see if I could find something. Chiyo let me do it, so long as I returned to help maintain the business and pay attention to the men that I served._

 _I was lucky. I was lucky that I had been locked up in my room either reading or helping by pouring tea, and in turn given the opportunity to save my own sex. While the idea didn't frighten me, having been rather numb and disassociated about the idea of sex and of men, Chiyo had saved me. Nudity and showing skin were probably the two more provocative habits that I had to work myself out of doing when I reached the academy. That and being a bit free with my touching towards the opposite gender, which I had to reel back in._

 _Sometimes the girls would go into fits craving for the days when their bodies hadn't become tainted by men. They would spend hours hugging and crying with each other. They cried over a life they didn't even remember; trying to soothe out aches that they perceived had never existed prior to their life here. How they knew they had been loved before their death, was like how I knew there was a hole where something should be filled. I felt lowered to their level when I realized that all souls felt that inpentrable gap, though neither I nor they could find the words for it._

 _As an outsider, with a sort of ambivalence towards the whole act, I was hated on in those moments. Chiyo would give them a few good hours to work off the emotions, and if they couldn't get their act together by the evening she would either show them the door or give them a few quick slaps._

 _Other than that, it was only when I had been released to the academy, by Chiyo's death, that I realized how I had played a part in demeaning someone else. I had never thought it so odd that Chiyo would become physically violent with someone when they didn't follow her orders, or that she was selling girls' bodies for sex. Most of the time, it was a living that everyone found acceptable. Particularly because the 62_ _nd_ _was known for it, and every street literally had ten brothels._

 _Going into a world where the word "sex" was suddenly immoral, and touch was forbidden unless the people were in love, gave me a different perspective. I never came to understand sex as some of my colleagues had, only for the usages of pro-creation, but I had learned something far more useful in those long months when I was trying to discover how to uphold myself properly at the academy._

 _I was shunted a bit, obnoxiously called a whore when I told them where I was from and was propositioned a few times as if I was degraded down to the very ground the students walked on. And it was there in the patches of questions and comments that I learned that I all that matters is perspective and how someone is taught. I too would have seen sex as they had if I grown up in the same manner. And so there was nothing to fear from the comments nor the questions, so long as they kept themselves physically away._

The girls had gone back to the working, as I had slipped away into my thoughts. Ukitake was somewhere over in the back, doing another casual check on his three patrons. The thought of returning back to the second squad toiled in my brain for a moment, but as the sun was still up high there was no need. The squad didn't like me there, just as much as I found I didn't like being in there. The hallways seemed to clamp up on me, no matter where I walked by.

Inoue came stumbling over towards me and tripping backwards she came and fell into my lap. She breathed in deeply, her tiny fairies coming around and making sure she was alright while she lay prone on top of me. She cried out as one began to grip onto her hair and started tugging.

"Inoue." A burnt eyes came towards me. The thin sheen of tears visible through the squint as she grappled with the pixie that was still badgering away at her lack of defense. "I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're powers are."

When it was realized that I was going to take up a little more time than anticipated, Rukia recalled her shikai and came to join us. The fairies had even died down, floating around. We had never officially met, so they took the time to observe me as they hovered around. Once done with their observation, they returned to Inoue and settled in different places on her body or remained floating.

Nodding along with the explanation, and then suddenly stuck my arm out to her. "Think you can do something about my arm?"

"There's no injury here, Ayake-san."

"Trust me." I also took in the skin that she was staring at. Though it might appear to someone that had no knowledge, as clean, the skin had long ago become mared and fragile. I poked down, and the two of us watched the skin take a long while to rise back up. "It's really damaged."

The fairies came out and created an orb around my forearm. Inoue hunkered down and focused on the limb, watching to all sorts of movements and differences. She was just doing a preliminary scan but she was making sure that nothing went amiss. She was too determined for me to say anything else. I flickered my gaze over to Rukia, who was also observing, although with less passion that the human girl. The feeling was the same as the orb dissipated and the fairies came back, shaking their heads.

"There's a lot of damage. It's too much to fix."

"It was worth a shot I guess." I nodded my heads towards them in thanks, before I began to collect up the tray.

"Ayake-san," Inoue placed her hand over my own, stopping the movements before I could stand up fully. "We may not be able to heal everything, but maybe we can try it out."

"What do you mean? Like go under that orb thing and see if it makes a difference?"

"It may take a few tries. Ayame-chan said the damage is really old, but it's worth a shot."

I nodded along, and pondered the thought over in my head before I accepted it.


	11. Chapter 10

It was the second session under the gigantic orange orb. The fairies had found that the damage to my muscles was slowly unwinding. It had taken nearly two hours the first time before they found that any sort of regeneration had occurred. More accurately, before they were able to reverse the effects of what had occurred on my body. This time around, Inoue seemed even more cheerful as she had pointed out that my skin was slightly cleaner than it had been.

"Ayake-san," I titled my head over to the girl as she kneeled with her hands on the orb. "How did you get like this?"

I turned my head back up to the ceiling. It was boring laying prone underneath the orb, but Kumo was keeping my occupied by wrangling out as many folk-tunes has he was able to remember. My inner-world had also restrung itself in some areas apparently. Although, the healing didn't get rid of the kido, it had worn a little bit more away at it and I had been able to get into my inner world again. It was first time in over a century I had heard him going about so delightfully in my head. Between yesterday and today, Kumo was popping as many songs as he could to keep me satisfied and complacent.

"You don't have to answer. I - I probably shouldn't have asked. It's personal, isn't it?" Inoue twisted her tongue around as she attempted to steer away from the topic.

I huffed some air through in a noiseless puff of ridicule. Of course, I would space out and get her to worry about something trivial. "Stop you're babbling, girl. I asked you to heal it, I guess it's only appropriate that you would ask how I obtained this mess."

"Only if you're sure."

"You know half the story anyway." I turned back to her. Her eyes grew large before they shadowed over in recognition. Everything seemed to circle around to Aizen, as they had for the past one hundred years. "I took the fall for a few friends and got locked up for crimes I was innocent of."

"The group with Kurosaki-kun?"

Her hair slowly loosened and flipped over her shoulder as she leaned a bit more towards me. She shifted around, but her attention was utterly focused on my own words. "Them and the others at the Urahara shop."

We lapsed into silence. The creaks of the room being the only spoken words from any of us. Houses always came to life at the oddest points in time. Steps seemed to always ricochet across the ground as people paraded around outside. Ukitake had asked us to keep the door at least slightly open; unfortunately, due to my condition of still have a dog collar around my throat. Inoue had attempted to state that I would be in a state of undress but I had brushed off the claims.

When I had first easily stripped in front of her, she had spluttered and tried to get me to cover up. Nakedness didn't bother me that much, reminding her that I had grown up in a brothel. Now, with only wrapping and a pair of underwear she still tried to give me a sense of modesty as she looking only towards my face, or maintained an observant eye on the orb.

"Are you going to ask no other questions?"

Inoue peered up towards me eyes again and absorbed my smile. It was probably the first that I had ever actually given her. Other than being able to enter my inner world, the sunken features on my face had been the first to dissipate. It was the only other sign that something had gone correctly after those long two hours. My eyes no longer looked bigger than my skull, and my cheeks didn't protrude nearly so much.

"I guess, um," she trailed off, rubbing her tongue over her lip and trailing her eyes away. Her eyes came back into focus on the orb. "What – No I mean, why would they put you in prison. Kuchiki-san was going to be executed."

"Rukia's circumstances aren't usually the norm. That was all Aizen's plan." The orb was beginning to shudder and there was a hum. "You don't have to push yourself, you know."

"But I want to keep going."

"Children these days are so keen," Kyoraku stepped into the room, without giving it two seconds of thought.

The orb immediately cracked and Inoue blushed red turning in on him and trying to sweep him out of the room. He laughed at her interactive movements, grabbing a hold of his hat and attempting to introduce himself instead. I rested onto my forearms as I watched the interaction going on. Of course, it would be him that would stampede into the room at the thought of a naked lady.

"Relax, Inoue." Inoue turned in on me and jolted as she tried to give me some protection. Her cheeks were puffing up red, and she looked nearly on the brink of tears. "Meet Seireitei's number one pervert."

"Ayake-san, please put on some clothes."

In order for her not to pass out from the exertion, her arms still widely going about, and her head twisting every which way since she wasn't sure where to look, I slipped on my shitagi and kosode. The length ran long enough that it stopped just below my butt. I fashioned the belt around so that the fabrics would stay in place. When I turned around Inoue was sat blushing down at the floor, and Kyoraku had an amusedly peeved look on his face.

"You got dressed so quickly, Yuko-chan."

"That's awfully inappropriate, don't you think, Kyoraku." I chimed back, wagging my finger. Inoue still had yet to look up, so I slipped on my leggings. "Don't be so tense, Inoue. Kyoraku's already seen me naked."

Like a volcano, her face erupted into molten pink and red. I could practically see the steam coming out from her ears. Flickers of laughter built up rapidly at her bumbling form until they poured out my mouth. I laughed until my chest ached, and the confines of my clothing almost felt too tight.

 _That's not much too really laugh at, Ayake-sama._

 _Did you see her face, Kumo?_

 _The girl was right to act like that. If I didn't know better I would say you were the more perverted of the two of you._

 _Kyoraku definitely has me beat._

 _Not this time._

I flicked a few tears away from my eyes as I peered up at her from my position on the floor. In the time that I was busy laughing, I had ended up sprawled on my side, cradling my ribs through the attack. Her wide eyes peered down at me, showing off the pink rainbow that was situated on her face. Kyoraku had stayed miraculously silent through the whole episode, but a quick flicker of my eyes told me he was watching with a pensive look coming upon his face.

My fingers rose quietly to brush at the heat as I returned to Inoue. "Thank you."

"It was nothing, Ayake-san. I'm glad that I could help."

"Yuko is fine Inoue. I don't really care for formalities anyway."

Inoue managed to slip out of the room, mumbling about how Rukia had called to her. I rose an eyebrow at the departure. After all, there was no way that she heard Rukia from the back of the building. She had gotten so flustered so very quickly and easily. It was no wonder Yoruichi had taken pleasure in her transformation time and time again. I had thought it rather redundant at the time, but having been the cause of the reaction for the first time I finally came to understand.

 _Don't let Yoruichi find out about that, Ayake-sama._

 _Aw~ Why ever not?_

 _You want her to know you've turned into a pervert?_

 _You're tossing that word around rather lightly, Kumo. Have you also forgotten where I grew up?_

Stretching out along the floor, my limbs quivered in that delicious strain. My hands arched above my head, flexing in their strength. These past two hours seemed to have worked even more magic. I curled my fingers into a fist, feeling a different tremble of excitement pass through my body. I opened up my hand again, straining as I stretched my fingers as far out as they could go and tracing over the tendons that were releasing.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Hm~ The stiffness is gone." I turned onto my stomach, stretching out like a starfish, and peered up at him. He had moved out of the room, leaving the door wide open, so that he could take a seat on the terrace. "What are you doing?"

With his arms casually crossed over his chest, and his back leaning up against the fencing, Kyoraku had tilted his head back. Almost looking as if he was going to topple over sideways in a small nap, his lips had parted to open slightly and he breathed in deeply. His shoulders slipped down; his pink kimono drifting away a bit.

With a twitch his eyes fell back on me. "Am I not allowed to visit you?"

"Didn't you get enough the other day?"

"Don't you know I have a daily quota I have to fill?" His grin supplanted all other thoughts that were rounding out in my head. He definitely had come to see Ukitake. I had sensed his reiatsu the moment it had passed into the thirteenth squad barricades. "I'm here for my daily fix, and the others I missed out on."

"I'm not some sort of drug, Kyoraku."

"Yuko-chan… Lovely, lovely Yuko-chan. I wanted to see you, is that a problem?" The words slipped out like an overflowing basin of water. He could certainly spout a lot of nonsense when it suited him. His eyes flickered over and then he let them drift over to his side, and then back towards me.

In turn my eyes rolled as he continued his eye movements. "Why don't you come over here?"

"But the sun feels so nice upon my back."

"There's more privacy here."

"Daddy Jushiro would never let us close the doors."

My throat wrangled out a few unwanted snickers at the thought. Ukitake acted like a father to almost all the Shinigami. It was odd, seeing as the two were the same age that he also acted like one to his best friend. Ukitake's fingers were always inches away from Kyoraku's ear; ready to twist when necessary.

"You'll have to get his blessing first then. I don't go behind daddy's back."

Both of our eyes broke away and flickered over to the hallway where Ukitake's reiatsu was coming through. Apparently, just noticing one of our prone figures in his corridor was enough to get him to huff out a sigh. His white hair went down in a flourish, as his head tilted around the bend of the doors. With a meaningful twerk of his eyebrows, he sighed for the second time in thirty seconds.

"Inoue already told me."

I let out another snicker and a wicked smirk as I winked over at Kyoraku. Kicking my legs, and readjusting so that my chin fell into my entangled fingers, I watched as Ukitake loomed in on Kyoraku chastising him for inappropriate conduct. In turn, Kyoraku smiled as he always did, and continued on his merry way ignoring him. Never once did we break eye contact.

"Yuko." I snapped away when Ukitake finally said my name. He was barely holding that serious look on his face, with his eyes gleaming in that adult amusement sort of way. "I expected better."

I shrugged as best I could in my position. "Seems a few people have finally rubbed off on me."

Laughing Kyoraku stood up to his height. Diving into the room, he scrapped me from the floor and began pushing me out the doors. The three of us made our way down the hall. Kyoraku's hands were never more two seconds away from touching me, though somehow, he kept it to a minimum. Only once did he left his hand linger on my shoulder, and that was when he thanked me for serving him his tea.

 _Ukitake's noticed anyway, I'm sure._

 _Got that right, Kumo._


	12. Chapter 11

"Finally." I dragged one foot up and then the other. The strings vibrated with the force, although I attempted to keep my feet light. "It's harder than I anticipated."

"Almost like when you first arrived here, Ayake-sama."

I peered up at the hulking body of my spirit. Slowly one leg came down, off towards the side of me. The long thin limb, was like three sticks stuck together at joints. I could see the other legs in the same manner; equally distance from one another as they spanned around his ovular body. The tiny points hanging onto the threads he had created. His two large pincers were basically clapping caustically as his tiny eyes probed down at me withering around in his glue. The large bulb at the back of his body wasn't fully extended yet. It was clear that there was still a need for more healing, but Kumo was looking much healthier from what he had described.

"Why are you always a spider here, and not your human materialization?"

He merged back into the shadows of the area without another word. The web extended far into the back, but I always ended up somewhere close to the middle. The lines of string were much closer together here, creating a small circular pillow that I could stand more easily on. It never got rid of the stickiness of the fibers, but the further out I went the more reishi I had to use as support. Gaps would start to emerge, until they were large gaping rectangles and the next string was three leaps away.

"Does my spider form scare you, Ayake-sama?"

Kumo had four eyes that appeared all in one line. Two large ones at front; making the other two slightly smaller to fit on the confines of his thin face. The small hairs around his face were in constant vibration as he used them to sense the environment around him as well as to memorize smells. His two chelicerae hung and curled down at the tip, to keep his two fangs away from my body.

He was much thinner than the average the spider, but he that was because he was a mix of several different breads. As he name suggested, his long legs with the poisonous lower sections came from the sea spider, his face from the average arachnid, and his dark green color green huntsman spider. Even though he was thinner, he made up for it in terms of size, easily dwarfing the new Komamura-taicho.

"It takes a bit to get used to your ugly face, I guess."

"How rude."

He leaped directly at me, his fangs chattered against the wind. I was sent tumbling back into the web from both fright and the wind pressure. I squirmed under the leaden strings that wouldn't release me. Kumo lowered himself down slowly, bending each joint of his legs underneath him. His body sent waves through the web, and I was sent on the rough up-and-down motions equally.

"Many of the strings have now reconnected." I paused in strained to get off the web. "Once everything is restored, then you will be able to walk properly."

"All thanks to Inoue."

The girl had finished a sixth session the other day, telling me she thought another two were necessary before the damage was all healed. She had looked particularly satisfied as she rattled off the information her fairies told her. It seemed that she had gained a lot more confidence in her time here, with the way her exuberance simply radiated.

"True, true. You were correct in trusting your intuition." Kumo mimicked out my tone that I usually took on when I was trying to correct someone. It was a taunting tone that had my lips sneering just by hearing it. "Make sure to actually give your thanks to her."

"I'm not a child, Kumo."

"Are you not?" One of his legs came out and pressed me down into the web. He was close to sending me into paralysis, but he used to the knuckle-like joint to push. "You're walking on a very fine line."

The sensation of choking sent me reeling out from jinzen. I grasped at my throat as I rubbed it to help ease the sensation. Rubbing at the muscles to unclench them, I swallowed again and stopped the asphyxiation. That damn spider had poisoned me, with another of his legs without me noticing. Keeping the rubbing going, I narrowed my eyes at the sword that was situated across my lap.

The wind was hurling with hell butterflies. Normally there weren't so many, only used when the souls couldn't get up and travel to other divisions themselves. That and for emergency situations, which was when the large influx like this was seen.

As one came up towards me I set my finger out. The message went off in my head, loud and clear: "Arrancar, presumed Espada, are in Northern Karakura Town. There are four in total, and then have been engaged by Hitsugaya's guard."

I rose slowly to a stand, fixing my and placing Kumo back into his sheath. I then turned my focus on Rukia's reiatsu pattern as it flared into action. The beacon of it was heading over towards the gates. I narrowed my eyes at the sign that she was heading back to earth. The phone that I had stowed away into a secret inner-lining of my kosode. I slipped a hand in and grasped it, still locked into where Rukia's was.

"No need to come. I'm going as back up." Kisuke had sent. Two brief sentences to explain a situation against four different espada-level enemies.

There was no need to type back a response, so I settled back down slowly to the roof. Aizen had made the first move, pushing the time limit that we had. Espada-level was certainly unexpected. The question was, why was now the correct time to reveal the power potential of his army?

Ichigo-boyo had already faced off and lost, certainly pointing him in the direction of training. Aizen had no interest in any of the other spiritual humans. The other Shinigami from the guard back down in the human world had also faced off, so they too had been training in the absence of any real danger. Although those fights might have been unwarranted, the two sides had gained clear information on the other side. Aizen knew that he was holding the advantage at the moment.

I flashed quickly over to the thirteenth division. Inoue would also be heading back, knowing that her friends were in danger. Without Rukia she would be going back either unprotected or with lower guards. I would have to convince Ukitake to let me go with them. Kisuke had taken her off the field because of her abilities, so it was better to be safe.

"Ukitake." I tapered off into a run. Inoue was waiting as patiently as possible inside the barracks, while the taicho was doing his usual routine of pacing outdoors. "Allow me to escort Inoue back to the human world."

He stared down at me; eyes flickering between mine own. Back and forth this continued as he read into what he thought he would find. With a sigh he settled down and shook his head. "I can't let you do that. Not only are you currently an unauthorized personnel, but you're also still on the mend."

"It would just be as a precaution. It's unlikely that Inoue would be attacked."

"I can't just let you run off with her. It's against the protocol."

"Ukitake," I grounded the words between my teeth, "so what if I'm not a Shinigami. And I may not be fully healed but I'm more than capable of taking care of a human."

He took a few steps and came closer to put his hand on my shoulder. "I understand that you want to help, but you're needed here."

"To what? Watch people push papers and let the onmitsukido keep track of all my movements?"

"Yuko—"

"Let me go taicho. If it makes you feel better you can put a damn tracking kido on me or have me accompanied."

Ukitake did, indeed, put the tracker on me, and I was accompanied by one other Shinigami to make sure that I fell in line. I had even gotten a hell butterfly from the first division, stating their obvious concerns about letting me go, though they were overlooking them. I had nearly crushed the thing when my fingers had subconsciously curled in. Knowing that I had been given the permission, I had sent a text to Kisuke to warn him about what was going on.

The dangai had remained frozen. Just the three of us traveling towards the other world. Every time I passed through this place it reminded me what my throat must look like, with smooth muscle coating the sides. Shinji had commented that it was more like a stone cavern. I disputed with the fact that the walls moved in similar rhythms as when throat muscles were swallowing; a soft wave brushing up against our sides. The place didn't feel dead in the same way stone did, either. There was too much energy floating around.

Something felt very off as we were moving. My one compatriot was not noticing anything. His eyes were practically glazing over as we were running. Inoue seemed too focused on the situation back in the human world to notice. But there was a crack, and I could feel the hollow reiatsu slowly coming creeping in. I shuffled my hand onto my sword. I would have to wait until its appearance.

"Only two escorts?" Words continued to pilfer out from the empty space behind us as slowly a doorway opened to reveal someone else. "It seems they were unaware that you are the most vulnerable when you are traveling."

The man that had us turning, was a slender and small man. He had evolved past just a simple hollow hole in his sternum, to the full-fledged image of a man with a bone mask on the top-left side of his head forming a type of helmet. He had a meager expression, borderline expressionless, with his thin lips stretched into a tiny frown. Though it was his eyes that revealed the majority of melancholic appearance; two distinct teal eyes that appeared to be crying through a single teal line coming from each one. It wasn't the shape of his eyes, nor the lines that sort of looked like tears, but the emptiness behind them.

 _This is bad._

 _Stay calm, Ayake-sama. I am with you._

He stepped into the dangai, and I ran my fingers of my hilt. He was wearing a long white jacket that left tails whipping around in back of him, and white hakama trousers. A black sash carried his zanpakuto by his left side, signifying the dominance of his right hand. For now, he remained positioned with his hands fashioned into his pants.

"Who the hell are you? Are you an arrancar?" The fellow Shinigami had taken his sword out and was aggressively edging forward.

Inoue started forward, but I stuck my other arm to catch her before she got to close. I slide Kumo out slightly further as the espada was making a new move. Inoue pushed up against me, crying, "Wait! You have something to say, right?"

 _There's no way to avoid this altercation._ My heart was pounding beneath my chest, leaving my entire body vibrating.

 _Seems Kisuke-sama was correct in his assumption_

 _Tsk - That guy usually is. Fucking mastermind._

As the guy splattered with a simple flick of the guy's hand, I yanked Inoue behind me and slipped my sword out. My eyes narrowed around the energy that was dissipating from around his hand. A type of cerro was it? My other hand clung onto Inoue's sleeve as she, undoubtedly, was staring back at the body of the Shinigami.

"That's right, girl. I have something to say to you." The words floated upon deaf ears that were much too focused on trying to process. I slowly began to gather up some reishi from the surrounding area.

His eyes didn't even acknowledge me, staring only at his objective as she began to heal the body. It was only when Inoue began to plead with me to run away that he shifted over to me slightly. I cancelled out the shot of reiryoku that he sent towards me. Having gotten rid of the attack his body nudged just barely to face me, in a sort of limited nod of acknowledgement.

"That won't work on me." Inoue's pooling eyes were locked on us, and I could feel them practically trying to drag me over to her side. "It was a compressed version of a cerro, no?"

"Ayake-san?" I heard the whisper come floated up through my ear. It was so miniscule and tiny.

"I won't tell you to run since I know you won't listen…. Let's hope you've done enough." I took a quick glance behind me. Oh yes, were her eyes tearing up. Her whole body seemed to be convulsing. I cut through the next cerro-like shot he sent at me easily. "Didn't I warn you – That won't work on me."

Kumo shimmered beneath my hand and swapped over to my shikai form. Patiently, we stood parallel to each other in the small hall of the dangai. His eyes flickered briefly as he took in my posture and tried to analyze what he could from my zanpakuto. I rose an eyebrow at the inspection, particularly when he gave a meaningful glance the sharpened tips of my nails.

"Don't tell me Aizen didn't tell you about me?"

His eyes crawled back up to me, not reacting to my words other than matching my gaze. "He must not consider you enough of a threat."

 _He's faster than I anticipated_. I flung an arm up as he leg came swinging over towards me. Wrapping a hand around his ankle, I flipped around so that I was floating above him, and tugged so that he was sent down the corridor. I flashed up above him as he traveled, so that we were now flying as we faced each other. I swung my hand down to try and cut him. With a tuck of his head, he dodged the blow and then parried it with a punch. Using the nails that were now in the ground, I swung in a half circle, my body perpendicular to the floor as I leveraged myself to gain some speed in another kick to his torso

 _He has similar movements to you, Ayake-sama._

 _I noticed._ The kick had caught hold and had knocked him back. _And I'm not even at full power…. Though neither is he._

Unearthing my nails from the ground, I quirked my head. "You can't use a cerro you know? It would blow up the passage and potentially harm your target."

"I'm aware." There was a faint twist of his head, as he ran another eye over my frame. "You're much studier than I anticipated."

"That's what happens when you nothing about your opponent."

"The same could be said for you as well."

Unable to catch the flash step, he zoomed in and sent a kick straight into the gut. I faintly heard Inoue shouting out at me, but the wind was whistled loudly as I soared over her and the slowly healing Shinigami. My back crunched as I contacted the ground, blearing my vision.

I snapped my hand up as I realized that his fist was coming down. The ground clattered and split open, sending sparks of pain up through my back. My jaw locked up and I briefly felt the pulse in my temple as my teeth clenched up. He kept driving down, and I exerted force, holding his fist in the palm of my hand as I kept him away.

His fist swung up away from me momentarily, until he tried to send me crashing down again. I angled my foot and pushed off from the ground using a flash-step, to jolt out of the bad position I was in. Taking in consideration the slight amount of time it takes to recover his defensive position, I shot out a few of my tendrils and attempted to jab them into him.

 _Che – This guy._

 _Ayake-sama, you must finish this quickly. Pushing yourself up against your limiter is damaging your body._

I flipped around into standing position, already feeling the effects as my vision faded to black for a moment. Shaking my head, I clung onto the espada's form as he was moving fast. We went a few more serious attempts, with our legs and arms swinging about; blocking and attacking simultaneously. It wasn't so much predictive, as it was that we were reading each other's movements in constant action.

Clawing, I desperately clambered for air and for my vision; the two of which were getting harder and harder to come by. Ditching the hand to hand, I lunged my nails out. It was a dangerous move, but it had a clear shot at damaging his shoulder. Realizing that he had dodged by only moving out of the way, I jumped and attempted to come back down with a swinging kick.

 _Shit_. I had been to slow to move it back as he grabbed onto the limb. Leg in hand, he lifted me slightly and began to form that cerro-like blast in his hand. _I don't have enough power to do any kido. Fuck._


	13. Chapter 12

_"_ _Where am I?" I inched out, my voice barely floating into my own ears._

 _The white lights glared down at me as I shifted up slowly. A sharp twang split across my back as I leaned back onto my pillow. The soft fabric rubbed against the cloth that I adorned. I glanced down at my arms to find the skin covered and wrapped with bandages. The room swayed slightly as I turned my head around to the new voice that called out._

 _"_ _4_ _th_ _division."_

 _I pulled around, my stiff muscles tearing at the movement. It was such an odd sensation. My back felt tight, yearning to break from the confines, but the shocking pain drove up my back. My neck cracked slightly as I turned to take a familiar face. Her sweet smile washed away at the slightest wince on my face. Her thick, black hair braided down the front of her chest moved as she walked towards me._

 _"_ _Unohana –"I trailed off as I noticed the two men standing behind her. "Kyoraku - and Ukitake."_

 _"_ _Good to see you up." Kyoraku stated, his hat tilting up, the wide brim still shadowing the front half of his face. He beamed down at me, a large grin spreading across his face, and pressed his hand to my shoulder. "Welcome back."_

 _Unohana's hands fell to my back after she pushed Kyoraku aside and helped me to shift forward. The pressure caused my back to jolt and a groan to spew from my mouth. I hung my head down for a moment as a dizzy spell caused the room around me to sway and tilt. The fresh pulse of her reiatsu felt strong against my back. I turned my head around the room, my cheek still pressed against my knees to stop the room from spinning._

 _I squinted my eyes as my gaze shifted back from the ground to the window. A harsh glint splattered across the room and just across the corner of my right eye. I blinked slightly, taking in the warmth that it laid across my face. The window had been left open, allowing for a breeze to sweep in. Instead of burning my skin, I could feel their soft brushes as the breezes nipped against my skin. It was colder than I remembered it being._

 _My gaze continued around the room. By my bedside there were flowers; deep, purple lilies which rested against the vase. I reached out slowly to touch the padded petals, as the group bent under the pressure of my finger. I watched as my arm quivered with the motion and couldn't help but sigh as I retracted my arm again. The pouring reiatsu stopped and I shifted back to the captains in front of me._

 _"_ _What's going on?" the tone of my voice jumped suddenly, and I swallowed quickly to replace the dryness of my throat. I could hear the shift of fabric behind me, as Unohana handed me a glass of water. Still shaking, I gripped the glass with two hands as I stared down at the water cautiously. My thumbs rubbed against the glass, and the bandages shifted lightly._

Waking up in the 4th division hadn't been as surreal as it was annoying. I had just gotten so much of my health back. Unohana quickly revealed what had happened, and how Inoue had vanished although my injuries were healed over. I had been placed on an observation bed to make sure that there was nothing else I needed. And now for only the second time in the period of a couple months I stood before the captains in the first division. I had been ushered in by a messenger, who had left nearly as quickly as he had appeared, and was sat down like a criminal in front of the sou-taicho, and surrounded by two parallel lines of captains and lieutenants.

 _Keep calm, Ayake-sama._

I narrowed my eyes, feeling each reiatsu brushing up against me. The only potent one was the one up ahead from the sou-taicho, but none of them were taking it easy on me. This time, however, the reiatsu couldn't pain me as the seal still hadn't been fixed, so I was able to create a minor shield away from the wrapping reiatsus. So now, I could eye them all much better than the bleary eyed first introduction.

"The human known as Orihime Inoue was traveling through the dangai yesterday to return back to the human world after Hitsugaya's party came into conflict with four espada. After a conversation with the Shinigami put in charge with you as well as the substitute Shinigami Kurosaki Ichigo, it has come to our attention that she has switched sides and has willing gone over to Heuco Mundo."

Kyoraku and Ukitake had been happy to fill me in on the situation when I had awakened. The two babied me for the whole afternoon, doing everything imaginable to make my overnight stay as easy as possible. It was a horrendous unwelcome amount of passion. I'm absolutely sure that they had already given my statement to the sou-taicho as well, since they were the ones that conducted the unofficially official interview.

"Forgive me, Sou-taicho, but I'm not sure I understand why exactly I'm here." The man's reiatsu blared down at me like the way sirens shouted out to people. I shifted around and clawed into the skin of my legs, as I tried to breathe through the pressure. "It's not like you didn't receive the information I gave to Ukitake-taicho and Kyoraku-taicho."

"I'm aware of what you said. Instead, I want to know why you think that Orihime Inoue was the one taken."

 _This is not good, Ayake-sama._

The sou-taicho was an old man, inebriated in his old traditions and closed mind. The man that had quickly jumped to killing off the quincies was the one sat before me. He was riding out the last fumes of anger from the betrayals, of which he was realizing had started a century ago. He was not the leader that should be looking forward to a war.

The air around us had fallen, taking note of the fact that they were waiting for a reply to the unasked question the loomed above all of us. In truth I couldn't get my mouth to open. The reiatsu was thickest around the Sou-taicho, and facing it head on was creating a counter reaction from my body. The limited reiatsu that was still in my body danced trying hard to protect me from the lasers that were pointed at me. The warmth radiated out from my core, pulsating through my body.

Thump, thump; I could feel it as it shook my body. The thick, heavy beats from my heart washed through me. Looking down to my chest I could see the beat that resounded and pulsed through me. Pat, pat, like the sound of his shoes when he had finally switched to clogs. I wavered forward, taking a small shift so that my body weight shifted to support my knees. I would so much prefer facing central 46 and their uppity attitude to this.

Swallowing back a few comments and the sudden wave of nausea, I launched my attack. "Are you, perhaps, suggesting something Sou-taicho?"

"When you were placed into the hands of the 4th division, they found a very badly damaged cellphone hidden in the folds of your clothing. - The 12th division was able to retrieve a few of the messages. You seemed to pass along a lot of information about the human girl."

 _Is Kisuke seriously getting me into trouble again?_

 _This is outrageous._

I pulled in a few breathes, choking down Kumo's words that were slowly becoming my own. "Are you insinuating that I've been conspiring, Sou-taicho?"

The man clunked his cane against the floor; reverting a sound around the room. "No. - Please inform the chamber who you were in contact with."

"Urahara Kisuke."

"And why was that?"

My jaw locked up for a moment, staring at the man in front of me. His eyes had remained closed as they normally had, but the hand was coming to grip just slightly more onto the wood of his cane. There was a small shot of reiatsu as I didn't answer quick enough. My clothing was starting to feel damp under the pressure.

 _Remember to stay calm Ayake-sama._

"Kisuke made an assumption that Orihime Inoue may be a target to Aizen due to her powers. I just happened to take up watch because she came Seireitai with Kuchiki Rukia."

The room fell silent; a few ruffle of cloth coming through. It was like watching an elephant rear up and begin its stampede against an unknown aggressor to protect its cub. The tension was mounting on thick across my shoulders, nearing the point where I knew that they were thinking this suspicious. The floor was rocking with their whispering thoughts of treason.

"It's not treason to gain information from an allying source."

The sou-taicho banged his cane again. The elephant thumping back down to earth so that it could start its run. "Urahara Kisuke has not been found to be a reliable source nor has he been found to be an ally of Soul Society. You should do well to remember that following him or acting on any information he may give you without the consent of the Gotei 13 is subversive behavior."

"I am not a Shinigami."

 _Ayake-sama…._

"You signed papers declaring otherwise."

"Don't be daft." I chewed on my lip for a moment. I pressed my eyes tightly together, as I gathered back the correct line of thought. "Do you honestly believe I signed those papers? They were thrice the length of the declarations I signed when I graduated from the academy."

 _No!_

The doors burst open under the pressure, like a balloon that had finally popped. I stumbled back under the angry flaring, the Sou-taicho even taking a few steps forward. There was a unanimous shuffle in the room, but I let my quivering limbs leave me hanging underneath the barrage. Knocking my chin down, squeezing my eyes shut, and cracking my teeth, I drew out my reiatsu. When I knocked the pressure back, I began to stand up more fully, letting my reiatsu act as an armor against the Sou-taicho's flames.

"What is the meaning of your actions, Ayake Ichiyuko?" His eyes had slithered open, cracking enough to see the burning embers molting his irises.

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" I sneered at the man, never once leaving his gaze. If I lost even a second of concentration, he would over power me. I knew that Kumo was throwing a fit in my head. "After one hundred years of being tortued and locked down in the deepest pits of the Maggot's Nest, you drag me up and treat me like a dog. - The tracking charm, the onmitsukido, the weekly reports you have your soldiers fill out, locking my reiatsu… Need I go on?"

"These are your accusations? - We are the law here."

"Not while I have no connection to the Gotei 13." The reiatsu was withering around. Kumo's voice growing tight and panicked within my head. "You're punishing an innocent person."

Standing only a few steps away from me, I felt the blaring heat of his zanpakuto. Still with that half-lidded gaze, I felt like an ant under the shadow of a giant's encroaching foot. It was so hot, I couldn't sweat since everything that would evaporate within seconds. He hadn't even released all of his reiatsu. I shivered from the chill that swept through me at the thought. My very organs convulsed in rebelling, sending up a wave of blood. The liquid hacked up and spilled up over my mouth.

Kumo was long gone as I plummeted back to the earth. My knees shattered underneath me and I tumbled down, my head knocking against the wood. Somewhere there was a snap of fingers; a faint shock in the back of head. The final twitch of the bolt came loose. My mouth fell open, something crawling out of it; vomiting out torrents of pain.

 _The asauchi is proclaimed to be the ultimate zanpakuto, as it has the potential to form into anything. The endless amount of potential make it a far cry from the limited actions of the zanpakuto spirit that comes through. All students at the Spiritual Arts Academy were gifted one once they enter the doors of the institution. All asauchi look exactly the same; a bland hilt and a rather dulled out blade in a katana form. If any of them are designed, that's when you know that it's a zanpakuto. We all spend every waking hour with it; some even sleeping with it in their beds. There's even an open meditation room that all students are allowed to enter to help them go into jinzen during any free moment._

 _It took me three years to connect to the sword enough. I hadn't even noticed the difference since the sealed form was similar to the asuachi katana. The design started with a short thin strip of black started to extend down the hilt. It was hard to make out, since my hilt was already tied up with a black cloth. I caught the new design when my hilt nearly blinded me, by reflecting the sun right into my eye. I spent months wiping at the spot, perking whenever it grew slightly longer than before._

 _"_ _Child." Something long and tall came to rest right by me. "It is good to finally see you."_

 _My eyes blazed up, prickling as slow tears finally trickled down my face. This voice was a man, and though he was nothing more than black mass, with a long, needle-like leg, I knew him. For he was me, and I was him. I hadn't imagined that I would become connected to a man of all things. Years later, I would end up laughing about it with him later._

 _"_ _You are my spirit."_

 _"_ _Yes. I've been waiting for you."_

 _I choked and spluttered on a few more tears before the dream ended. My pillow had soaked through, and I hurriedly turned it over so my roommates wouldn't find the evidence. I collected my sword from the small latching I had made at the post of the bed to keep it upright, and let it hum in my lap. I sat until the first rays of the sun had spied into the room, and then I slipped out and prepared for that day._

 _My zanpakuto changed for me, every day for a single year. I pumped endless amounts of reiatsu into him, as directed by my teachers, to feed him. I never returned to my inner world, and I never figured out his name. But when my heart clenched up, or my stomach revolted, or jeers of my peer wouldn't quiet down, I could almost feel that long needle-like leg poking through them and sorting them away._

 _Those memories that I had felt to be almost alien to my existence, the odd sensation of knowing what I should not have known and being conscious of knowledge, settled. There was a consolation in finding my spirit, even if he was a dark mass. I never gave up the thoughts, but I thought I might have finally found someone that I could turn to. Once he decided that I was always someone he could turn to._

 _I had spent years with the whispers at my back, and tentative friends that would stop whispering when I entered the room. On that one year anniversary of my meeting with my spirit, I met someone else. This time in reality. We had crashed into each other. Literally, sending us both sprawling in opposite directions._

 _"_ _Sorry," he spoke out shakily. He helped me to collect a few of my scattered books. "Are you hurt?"_

 _I snatched up my things and pulled away to stare at the man I had bumped into. It was no shock that he was taller than me. He was lean but muscular. His hair was a light-blond and messy around his head, with the strands on the sides sticking out and framing his face, while one hung between his eyes. There was a quirky smile upon his face, an embarrassed flush causing a twitch on his upper lip. He scratched at the back of his head, and bowed awkwardly._

 _"_ _I'm okay. Are you?"_

 _"_ _Hm~ Oh yes. I'm very sturdy." His gray eyes flashed something unknown; a glint I had never seen appearing. As if he was remembering a joke that had started that way, his face turning away from embarrassment to humor in two quick blinks._

 _I turned down to double check all of my papers and books. Shuffling them around and steadying them in my grip, I bowed down again. "I apologize for bumping into you."_

 _"_ _It's really okay."_

 _"_ _Well, then - I'll see you later." I remarked, as I continued around him and continued on walking. It was normal to say that, even if I would never bump into him again._

 _I turned slightly, hearing movement. He had turned around and started waving jovially. His face was splayed out in a goofy grin, and bright eyes that stayed locked directly on my eyes. I blinked a few times taking in the picture of the happy boy, before I gave him another casual bow of my head and turned back around._

 _Students were rushing back from break, or in the middle of passing through for class, but even still a silent orb fell around me in protection. Tons of mindless chatter between people that had long ago become friends. I walked through the tightening length of the hallway. The sense narrowing, as if the two walls where now just up against my shoulders, grew stronger when I sunk my head down into my shoulders as I overheard a few of the conversations._

 _I lifted my hand slightly up to my head when it started pounding. "I don't remember hitting it when I was knocked down."_

 _ **Child, turn back around.**_ _He spoke through my head, adding a few extra inches to my height as my head jolted up. It garnered a few odd looks from some people in the hall._ _ **Turn around and speak to him.**_

 _"_ _You're speaking to me now?" I muttered out loud. The first time a zanpakuto spirit talks to you is always confusing, and almost no soul knows how to communicate back in mental language. It's not too odd to see students talking to themselves as they try to master mental communication._

 _ **Turn and go, child.**_

 _Ignoring the odd press against the back of my head, where it seemed the words were coming from I turned. I turned only because it was the first time my spirit had ever spoken to me this way. It had been a long year of little contact, with only those tiny brushes against my memory._

 _I couldn't see the boy I had run into, so I broke into a small jog. I ducked and dodged through the people that I had previously passed by. My sudden rush garnered even more looks, most of the people dodging out of my way as I ran by them. Thankfully, he hadn't gotten very far, and I could just make out his frame down the end of the hall. There was his lofty yellow head, peaking up behind a group of gaggling girls._

 _I pushed myself forward, trying to keep a steady hand on my books while using another arm to help my thrust. Flash-step would have been useful at this moment, but I hadn't gotten the hang of it yet, and such things were forbidden in the hallways._

 _"_ _Wait." Pushing by a few people, my target rounded the corner and continued walking. I jostled through, and maneuvered around another group. Just as he was about to reach the stairs, I leaped forward and grabbed onto his sleeve. Lowering down, I bent over at my knees and tried to regain my breath. "Wait."_

 _"_ _Eh?"_

 _Realizing that I still had a firm grasp on his sleeve, I backed up immediately, waving my hands around. Blood rushed to my cheeks that was certainly not from the exertion of that run down the hallway. "I - Well, I - It's not… Wait. Just wait."_

 _The boy seemed to pulse in amusement as his shoulders shook. He was eyeing; locking in on my frame. I felt infinitely small there, even though he was only doing it in amusement. During the small staring contest a small blush appeared on his face. He scratched at the back of his head, and he closed his eyes to manage out an awkward smile._

 _"_ _Did," he said after that moment, but then cut off. Surely he noticed that my eyes were growing two sizes too big. I had completely forget to think about what to say. "Did you need something?"_

 _"_ _My zanpakuto…."_

 _"_ _Huh? Zanpakuto."_

 _I wanted to slink down into a deep dark hole. Why was I even talking to him? Another blush came forward, and I lowered my head down further to try and let it slip into the confines of my kosode. My feet twitched in the traps that were suction cups around my feet. I plucked at some dust that had miraculously appeared on my sleeve, as I took in a deep breathe._

 _"_ _My zanpakuto told me to come and talk to you."_

 _"_ _Really?" My head shot up at the marvel in his voice. The pitch had skyrocketed, and he leaned over to look at the hilt of my sword. Unconsciously I shifted lifting my left arm up so that he could get a better view. "What year are you in? Have you spoken properly with your spirit? What's its manifestation? Have you released shikai?"_

 _I blinked several times. A new pressure mounted up as I realized that I actually had to maintain a conversation that I didn't even realize why I had to have. And wasn't he asking completely irrelevant questions? Why did he want to know those things and not why my zanpakuto had sent me his way? In fact, why had my zanpakuto sent me to him?_

 _He kept sounding of questions, staring down at the hilt as if it was the most important prize he had found. There was a strong focus in his eyes, like a missiles that had locked in on its target. I moved away and shifted so that my right side was facing him more. He jumped away and began to profusely apologize, bowing rapidly up and down._

 _"_ _May I ask your name?"_

 _"_ _Urahara Kisuke. And you?"_

 _"_ _Ayake Ichiyuko."_


	14. Chapter 13

**A/N: The subsequent chapters will all be in the past.**

 **Also, thank you for sticking with the story and special thank you's to those of you who have reviewed, have "favorited", or have followed my story. It's nice hearing from you guys!**

Time with Urahara Kisuke was time spent in wonder. He was the year above me, in the advanced class, and in him, he held swells of knowledge. I had reluctantly agreed to meet him for lunch because he had greedily asked me so many questions when we first met. I had arrived first and thought that, perhaps, it had been a joke, but he came running up just as I was about to take my first bite and apologized again. He had stayed behind to ask a teacher a question and lost track of time.

Urahara Kisuke was an odd boy. He hid a keen intellect behind an amused, cheery outlook and a boyish awkwardness that he hadn't grown out of. Almost like he was waiting for the rest of his emotions and body to catch up with the wheels that were spinning around in his head. However, he was, with absolute certainty, a very happy boy. There was not an ounce of fakeness that I could find, even when the radiance was mask to cover up the way his eyes would glint.

I had wondered why the first time my zanpakuto had spoken to me, it had been about him. As I came to know him, I realized that it was because my greed was just as much as Urahara's. I had suffered without books and knowledge, and slowed by my own intellectual misunderstandings of certain topics. Urahara educated; watering the flower of my brain until it blossomed. His knowledge became mine own in a way, and in doing so I had found ways to look at the world through his eyes.

I could not pass my eyes on to him though. I thought, perhaps, it had been my fault as a friend; a weakness, that I had to overcome. It was impossible to get Urahara to switch his line of thinking once he got started. He stayed firmly in dealing with the thoughts about now and about science. I would still wander off and contemplate on memories and thoughts.

"What squad will you be entering, Urahara-san?" I picked at my food as we sat at our spot for lunch. A little over a year later and we still had the same lunch time. "Is there one that you prefer?"

"I've been aiming to get into the 2nd division."

"Really? I didn't realize that you had a goal already."

He munched cheerfully away at some of his bento. His eyes continued their gaze over the grounds as they usually did. The two of us would always sit outside, underneath a tree for some shade when the weather would permit. When we didn't talk, it was calming just to sit next to someone.

"Yoruichi-san and I are planning to take over the division."

I stared over at him. His eyes had narrowed down at the thought. Shihoin Yuroichi was a student in Urahara's year and class. Being of a noble family it was guaranteed that she was going to be placed in the advanced class, and that she would get a seated position straight out of the academy. She had most likely been preparing to take the captaincy she had entered the academy, perhaps even before that, since the Shihoin had controlled both the onmitsukido and the 2nd division for the past several decades at least.

Urahara joining up was a new one. I had known that there was an undercurrent of greed in him. Not just in knowledge and his fascination with science, but also in power. There was a certain thrill in him that grew at the prospect of a challenge; although the more mental it was, the more appealing it became.

I lowered my eyes down to my box, tilting it so and watching the food turn over. It would make sense that he would want to get a high ranking position, solely for his own academic benefit. Urahara was powerful enough to obtain a position like that. Once he had free reign, he would take it.

"You haven't met Yoruichi-san, have you?" When I shook my head confirming his statement, he gave me another grin. "I think you'll get along."

Our conversation dunked under water, like the hook of the fishing rod when a fish had tried to snag the bait. He munched away, chiming happily when he finished the meal. I soothed myself by taking a few bites here and there, but mostly watching. It always seemed to remain summer or spring here; the winter being the shorter season. Birds chirped and grass was always growing. Peace seemed reflected in the very atmosphere.

"You've only got a year left - Do you have any thoughts on where you want to go?"

"Not so much."

"You're pretty well-balanced as a fighter." Kisuke wandered off with his mumblings, placing his chin into his palm. "You seem to favor hakuda."

"Zanjustu still feels a bit awkward, even after five years." I chuckled as I closed the lid over my food.

I felt his gaze, peeping at me from the corner of his eye, but when I went to confirm he had already glanced away. He liked being sneaking like that; keeping his observations to himself until he was forced to share, or in his excitement he poured out of him like a waterfall of ideas. He basked in the glory of his discoveries either way.

"Is your zanpakuto still not really talking to you?"

I shifted the hilt up slightly with a nudge of my hand. The man had spoken to me a few times since, but they had been too few and far between. His image wasn't any clearer either. "He's still holding back."

"Perhaps, it's you."

"Eh?"

"Maybe you're the one holding back." Gray met black, not for the first time, in a sort of duel. "I mean, you don't seem to have many goals."

I raised my eyes up towards the sky, biting at my lip. The sky was so bright today. The sun taking full effect as it was essentially cloudless. "I mean – I do. I want to be a good Shinigami and go out on missions."

"So you want a seated position?"

I could literally hold the lock in my hand. The key in the other, hovering just seconds away from seeing if it was a match. The words clogged up my throat, and it was just too much to look at anything but close my eyes. My heart was clamping, shriveling into a prune. It was not dehydrated from its life source. It was shrinking so that it could create one large bang.

"Is it really so easy as to say that?"

"Of course. Ambition isn't a sin, you know. - It's all in your head."

The pulse came back, sending quivers down my spine. I peered up straight at Urahara's face and declared it boldly. His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing down with that glint of satisfaction, like he had solved another problem. There was a set in his mouth; a burgeoning smirk that told me he hadn't quite expected it but was going to face it head on.

"You're more competitive than I thought, Yuko-chan," he chirped and placed his head on my head as he scrolled through my hair.

"Yuko-chan?"

He leaned down slightly, so now we were matching eye lines and sent me a look that I couldn't quite describe. "We're friends, aren't we?"

Lunch was called to an end and Urahara rushed off back to clash. He had an exam that he simply couldn't lose any time on. I fixed up my hair as I walked back. Friends? I guess we were, with the ridiculous amount of time we spent debating theories, somehow we had slipped past more than just acquaintances. Certainly more than just lunch buddies.

I knew for a fact that he had only taken interest in me because I was a link into the way a zanpakuto and its wielder crafted a relationship. He was very keen on the topic, always asking about progress and asking me to do other sorts of exercises to see the results. I knew it had not been because he was trying to help me in that sense. It had been to leech information off of me, but I hadn't really minded. It was the purest interaction I had, had in a long while.

I resolved myself on the issue. I'd call in Kisuke-san the next time.

"Kisuke-san." I hurried up along the hallway as I spotted his back. Just as I was about to call out again, a young woman pointed back at me telling something to him.

The two paused in there walk, so I slowed to a jog until I got to them. I peered at the woman. Her distinct dark skin and purple hair were a dead give a way. Shihoin Yoruichi was smaller than I thought. She appeared to be made up of purely compacted muscle in her short frame. Although small, she radiated a dominance that could take over the whole hallway. Her eyes gave her an uncanny appearance of a cat when she added a smirk. Her eyes struck me as the kind that stayed watchfully observant, even in the glimmer of happiness. Much like Kisuke's, actually.

"Who's this?" Her eye brows fluttered up and down as she elbowed Kisuke several times in his stomach. "Girlfriend~?"

"Yoruichi-san." There was practically a plead in his tone as he seemed to physically waver under the insinuations. "This is Yuko-chan."

"Yuko-chan?" Her eyebrows fluttered down, as she turned back to me. They shifted up and down, absorbing whatever information she could from my form. I stiffened. It wasn't just a look for a noble but also from someone very skillful.

"Yes, the girl I was telling you about."

"Oh~ Yes, the one you spend your lunch break with. - Nice to meet 'cha."

I hurriedly bowed and mustered up all the things I remembered from Chiyo about talking correctly. "An honor, Shihoin-sama."

Her hand came and gripped onto my hair. Using the strands as leveraged, she pushed my head down until it almost touched the floor before she lifted me up so that I could match her gaze. There was a small fault in her eyes, a sort of cold blockade as I stared at her. She smiled through it, as she untangled from my locks and thumped on my head.

"I hate formalities. Call me whatever you want." Kisuke was in the back chuckling as he watched the seen. I must have appeared so flustered, since the two were glancing at me in amusement now. I shuffled my feet, and waited until it had died down. "Did you need something?"

"Eh?"

"I mean you came running down the hall shouting for this idiot." She gestured with her thumb, with Kisuke looking at the thumb as if it would inflict great damage on him.

We stared blankly at each other, before a light bulb went off in my head. I slipped my hands into the folds of my shirt and pulled out the sheet of paper that I had found. As I was unfolding it, there was a brief shudder in my thoughts. I scowled at the sudden glue that seemed to keep the paper attached to my hands. The colorful paper seemed a little childish as I looked down at it. Perhaps they wouldn't want to go? Steeling up again, I handed the paper over before I could continue that line of thought.

"This festival is happening over the weekend. I usually attend." The two had hunched over, with their eyes scanning over the paper. When the two sets had finally peeked back up at me, I continued, "I thought it would be nice to go with someone else for a change."

Kisuke snagged it from between my fingers and looked at it again. "What do you usually do there?"

"There's this obstacle course that the academy puts up. Only students are allowed to participate." Shihoin seemed to understand what I was saying as I was talking, her head nodding up and done. "There's prize money if you can get through without a scratch. - It's pretty fun."

"There's also tons of other things. They tried to base it off of the human festivals that some of the researchers have seen." Shihoin contributed. I hadn't realized that nobles were able to participate in such festivals. Then again, it was only in the first district, so it wasn't like they were soiling their feet by stepping on the ground there.

When the two agreed that they would go, I released a breath I hadn't known I was holding. I had hurried off, the energy almost shooting me straight towards my classroom. I was left bouncing through the entire two days that preceded the festival. Kisuke didn't even tease me about it. He only smiled and kept peppering me with questions about different things to keep me entertained. Perhaps, because I had spent so many times receiving his own excitement.

Though the smile that he sent was far more endearing. Almost as if he enjoyed seeing me like this. I hadn't ever been this excited around him before, though I had demonstrated how I could become so enraptured by knowledge. Kisuke was turning out to be a real friend, with his goofy smile and his border-line chaotic attitude.

The day of the festival, my zanpakuto had spread out a black line across the length of the blade. It was a sudden growth, and I relayed the information over to Kisuke who took keen interest in it. He observed the line, mumbling to himself about how it seemed to make no other alterations to the composition of the sealed state. The coloration as the only hint that I was one step closer to finding out my spirit's name. Kisuke found it equally fascinating either way.

Shihoin tagged along on the opposite side; sometimes minding her own business, other times jumping in on conversations. As she was Kisuke's friend and not mine, it seemed the only good solution was for him to walk in between the two of us. He seemed not the least bit flustered at having to twerk his head every minute of so.

She and Kisuke made very good friends. Although, Kisuke pulled out a bit of a flirty attitude that I had never seen before, their personalities seemed to mesh well. When Kisuke would go on tangents, Shihoin could led him through his thought process. When she drifted off into space, Kisuke could reel her back in and make her join the conversation. They could keep up with each other's speed. Their minds working, not in the same way, but in tandem.

"So what exactly do you do for fun here, Yuko?" We entered under the large arch and were immediately hit with the smells of different foods; some sweet while others savory. "You invited us, so give us a tour."

My eyes felt like I was seeing the festival for the first time. It had always been this crowded and festive. I had kept my head down. My theory, about becoming ambivalent to comments, it hadn't worked out as well as I had planned. While it did save me from becoming angry over useless comments, and shined a light on people's characters before they got to close, it seemed to have seeped into other aspects of making friends.

I had never been too good at it in the first place; I was only a child when I was first brought to the brothel whilst the other girls were older. The age difference and the obvious mental difference kept me at bay. I could never understand them, and they could never understand me. I had developed good enough social skills, but I just lacked a certain touch for maintaining friends it seemed.

People often became disinterested once they found out that my life back in the 62nd hadn't been nearly as bad as they had assumed. I didn't want to associate with people like that, but by the time I had spent trying to develop bonds with one person, who turned out to be nothing more than a fraud, others had slipped by. It was hard entering groups of friends that were already established.

Two sets of eyes were on me as I slipped back from my thoughts. Shihoin stood with her arms crossed and an eyebrow perched, while Kisuke was shaking my shoulder lightly. I brushed his hand away as I gave them a shaky smile.

"I usually only come for the obstacle course."

"You did mention that you usually came alone." Kisuke spluttered out, before back tracking and apologizing. Shihoin gave him a good smack of the head; whether it was for the comment or for his nervous habit I wasn't sure.

She turned to me, swinging an arm around my shoulder. "Why do you come alone, anyway?"

"I guess, I've just been bad at making friends."

"You don't seem like a bad chick." Shihoin's eyes glanced down at me, still keeping my nestled into a half-way headlock. Kisuke was still nursing his head. "What about your family?"

"Well - You see, I grew up in the outer districts."

From his squatting position, Kisuke peered up at me. He looked like a child, with tears gathering at the corner of his wide eyes, peering over his shoulder with a quivering lip. "I didn't know that."

Shihoin jostled me slightly in her grip to continue to get me talking. I closed my eyes so that I wouldn't have to envision their faces. The words fell dryly from my swollen tongue. "I came from the 62nd southern district."

"So you're the girl." Shihoin's lithe arm slumped off my shoulder, her body heat disappearing almost immediately. I slowly peeked an eye open, to see that the two of them had come together again.

Kisuke snapped his hands down onto my shoulders and began to push me along. Shihoin obediently followed behind as we set off walking. "You've come so far, Yuko-chan."

"I…. I wasn't a whore." We stopped again. We had been at the festival for nearly five minutes and we had gotten any further than the gate. I dug my toes into the sand, and fisted up my trousers. "I didn't do that sort of stuff."

"Gomen." Kisuke patted my shoulder again. The back of his head was illuminated by the lit backdrop of the sky above him, and it shined down on his face. His features softened; his eyes crinkling at the edges and his lips pulling into a sincere smile. "That's not the impression I wanted to give you."

"What the idiot meant," Shihoin jumped in, producing a wide grin as she held onto my shoulders so that I would be facing her. "To get from there to here is a big deal. Shall we go celebrate?"


	15. Chapter 14

Even though their schedules were very packed, both Yuroichi and Kisuke made it to my graduation ceremony. Kisuke had gotten himself a numbered seat from the start; straight onto number seven of the second division. Yoruichi had graduated into the onmitsukido, so that they she could take up her proper position there. Both were working hard to make their ways up their individual ladders. It would be unlikely that I would join them in the second division, though.

The two of them gripping my hands and tugged my forcefully through another year. When they could they would sneak me out and we would train to the dead ends of the night, when the sun was just reaching tilting back over the horizon. They passed along information, tips for tests and even things academy students shouldn't have known, through whispers and encrypted messages.

I remained steadfast in only one thing, and that was keeping my head low and my knowledge sealed away in a tight box. I had no reason to show off, keeping my skills, dexterity, and tactics all for the working minds of my two friends. They may have gone through the full six years of the academy, taking away the given title of genius from them, but they were superb. I decided in the moment of their graduation from the academy, that I would share my potential only with them; letting them mold it into something as superior as them.

"Finally done." Yoruichi cheered as she slammed a hand onto my back. Kisuke stood off to the side, letting me deal with the pain. "Aren'cha glad?"

"Would you stop doing that, Yoruichi?" I snagged her hand and held it up between us. She met my glare with a smirk. "It hurts."

"I'll stop when you beat me at a game of tag, chick."

I groaned and floating over to Kisuke. He chuckled as he let me slide against him, feeling the same pain that I had. Slowly he raked his hands over my hair, and we continued on our way to my room. They had come a long to help clear up all of my stuff and help me dispose of the majority of it. They would leave later on to return back to duty, whilst we, graduates, would be going to the closing ceremony to be officially introduced to the captains of the Gotei 13.

"But it's exciting, isn't it, Yuko-chan?" Kisuke asked, as he tossed another piece into a bag.

"I feel weird," I responded, watching as Yoruichi was flipped through some of my notepaper. "I don't know what life is going to be like after graduation."

"Training, paperwork, and killing hollows." The woman shrugged and flipped the papers over her shoulder as she finished looking through them. "Don't overthink it. You have a bad habit of doing that."

Looking through my now barren corner of the room, I felt the faint twist in my stomach. It was odd to see my life packed up into boxes and trash bags. I was leaving with more than I had come with, but it was actually more than I anticipated. I scratched my head. Yoruichi was right; I would be going from one routine to another. No need to feel too anxious over the situation. Besides, the two would probably help me settle in quickly.

"I don't think I'll be getting to the hollows just yet." I was unnerved by their sudden looks. I should have gotten accustomed to their near parallel reactions. "I'm going to an unseated position."

"Why that's happened is beyond my imagination, but you'll just have to work yourself up." Yoruichi muttered with a shrug. "What squad did they place you into?"

"Thirteenth."

"It's not a really competitive place…. But it's not a bad place to start." Kisuke rapped on my head with his knuckles.

When I had entered the academy I had learnt to avoid guys. I had carelessly made a few comments in the first couple of days, and that's when the rumors had started. For that reason, I avoided men more than girls. The girls, however, ended up being far more snarky and passive aggressive. I maintained as many pleasantries and normal conversations as possible with the two genders, but I had become rapidly aware of the gender difference. Not in the same way I learned to at the brothel, but in the manner that I had to keep a distinct distance from them.

Kisuke was the first that I hadn't seen specifically as a guy. He wasn't overly touchy, and he had made not a single proposition. He seemed to only really like patting my head or my shoulders. He flirted only with Yoruichi. It was so singular that I had asked him if he was trying to seduce her. Kisuke only pointed out that the relationship between us and between them was different. It did nothing to wipe my thoughts from the matter, but it didn't change my attitude towards him. He became a sort of brother in a way.

The meeting hall was filled up with students, all sitting erect in their seats and trying to peer over the heads of the people in front of them. At the head of the room was a panel of the captains. From the center was the Sou-taicho. To the right stretched the even numbers, whilst to the left were the odd numbers.

Ukitake Jushiro was a fragile man. It wasn't very apparent when you saw him for the first time, but there was a delicate way he carried himself. The knowledge that he was ill, was something that was even carried down to the students. It didn't prevent him from sending out his impossibly warm nature, which had a strong protective undercurrent.

He wore the standard issued uniform, with his white hair tied loosely behind him into a low ponytail. A few pieces of fringe were swiped over to cover the right side of his forehead. He looked rather youthful, I thought, as I stared at the man that would become my captain; with his eyes searching through the crowd and maintaining such a friendly smile.

 _He looks like a pleasant man, Ayake-sama._

Kumo and I had been officially introduced earlier this year, during a practice extermination. It was a ten days excursion, as a final test in not only individual skill but also teamwork. I had strained myself through using kido, and my legs had cramped up from overwork, when Kumo finally appeared. I split the hollow's head clean through with a single stab, and passed out clear away. My teammates made little mention of it. It wasn't too uncommon, and it was obvious that I had practically no skills with my spirit.

 _He's one of the oldest, yes?_

Now that I could hear his voice more clearly, Kumo seemed to not to be my opposite but my exact parallel. He spouted off questions as quickly as I could answer them. He asked everything from personal anecdotes, to questions about Seireitei. I endulged his curiosity, as much as he indulged my long days conversing about my own questions. I built up enough energy to spend nearly ten hours straight in jinzen, so that we could talk.

 _Yamamoto-Sou-taicho is the oldest, I believe. Then Unohana Retsu, who leads the fourth. Ukitake-taicho and Kyoraku Shunsui are the other oldest._

 _Already deeming him your taicho, Ayake-sama?_

 _Should I not?_

 _I don't believe you should give respect when it is not warranted._

 _He's captain for a reason._

 _Holding a title does not make one worthy of the respect of it. You must come to judge his character._

"Excuse me."

My head popped up and I looked straight into a pair of green eyes. Ukitake-taicho had come down the line and was standing in the row right in front of me. I swiped my head around, to notice that the rest of the students were trickling out, and I was the only one left sitting.

 _Kumo~~~_

 _Awareness is learnt, Ayake-sama._

I groaned as I lowered my face into my hands. Of course the engorged spider would let me stay put like an idiot, while other people were moving around. There was a small rasp of a throat, and I tore my head back up to look at Ukitake-taicho who was only giving me a pleasant smile. I felt the blood rise up to my face.

"You're free to leave."

"Ah - Yes. Well, I…" I fumbled over my words, as if they were cracks in the streets that I used to trip over. I pulled up from the chair, my knees shaking in duress. I swung my hands towards my sheath and tugged it up so it was stuck between us in mid-air. "It's his fault."

 _Tsk – How rude, Ayake-sama._

"Your zanpakuto?" Ukitake-taicho eyed the sword, his eyes slightly crossing over his nose, before flicking his gaze up towards me. "Have you just started having conversations with him?"

"Yes. I lose track of my surroundings when he starts talking."

He hand waved to usher me to keep up with the group, his smile reappearing. "Then I'm glad I could get your attention."

 _How mortifying~_

 _Just imagine Yoruichi's and Kisuke's reactions._

 _Dammit._

Yoruichi had laughed herself into tears when I told her the story. Kisuke had snickered much more subtlety, but he failed a bit in his attempt when he groaned about how his stomach was hurting. They chided, saying I shouldn't have been so embarrassed. Fumbles like that happened to all Shinigami. Kisuke had got stuck in a conversation with Benihime during a class. He had become so absorbed in it that he had to stay through the one that followed whilst missing out on an exam because of it.

A month and a half had passed by easily in the thirteenth division. I picked up odd jobs at the barracks, often cooking and cleaning. Due to that, I had stayed hidden. The only times there was any potential that I could run into the taicho, was during the group training sessions that happened during the afternoons. I had been lucky so far, since he had been residing in private estate off since he had fallen a bit ill again.

When I admitted that I had been avoiding going anywhere new the barracks because I didn't want to see if he recognized me, Yoruichi gave me a good slap over the head. Then proceeded to toss me around through a training program that left me aching for days.

Being unseated, I was able to go about as I pleased. I trained by myself for the most part during my time off. I snuck into Kisuke's underground training pit more often than not. When they could, my two friends also joined me. It happened a lot seeing as their duties didn't take them days to complete. We would go for hours doing different training exercises. Kisuke had to finally build a clock so that we could keep watch on the time.

This pit happened to be right by the forest in the southeastern quadrant of the enclosed society. I could easily slip in and out of the trees, becoming the wild child without shoes on as I swung around. I had a developing infatuation with the feeling during my hanging time in the air during a flip or a long jump.

There were two girls that were bickering over at the side corner of the kitchen. The squad had just finished serving the last of lunch, so the cleaning group was on duty. Everyone was in a particularly good mood as the captain had returned back to the barracks and was looking very refreshed. They all seemed very thankful that he was in better health.

I returned to observing the two girls. They were gesturing to the tea pot and then something that was hidden from my view by their bodies. Normally they were so composed. I pushed my lips together as I tried to put the pieces together, before I headed over to them.

"Excuse me," the snapped around to me, "I saw you arguing. Is there something wrong with the tea leaves?"

The girl holding the pot shoved it over towards me. "The captain is having a guest over and there aren't enough leaves."

"This is jasmine?" When they nodded, I continued, "I can get some."

"What? Right now?" One mumbled out snide remarks before the other smacked her arm and gestured over to my nodding head. It gave her enough initiative to push the pot into my hands. "I hope you really can."

I tucked the pot in towards me stomach and ran out of the kitchens. As soon as I was in the clear, I sped off, using my flash-steps to get over to the correct fields. The air tunneled around me, as if, with my head ducked, I was aerodynamic enough to go through without any resistance. I nearly slipped on the dewy grass as I came up to the wooden posts.

The fields out in the northeast had a posts to help grow out and dry out tea leaves. I don't think many people use it, which is a complete waste, but there was an abundance growing. Particularly in this warm weather, and without a humid day, the jasmine had proliferated.

As quickly as I could, I gathered it up and then flashed back over to the districts. I took it a bit slower as I felt a cramp, ghosting over my calf, but I made it back in good time. However, when I entered the kitchen, the girls had left and the staff told me to go ahead and prepare the pot. They then ushered me out of the way so that I could get it to the two waiting guests.

It was impossible not to feel like I was working a bit at the brothel again. I had totted a tea tray like this for years. It was familiar to have another one in my hands. I tried to fix my gait so that I could calf muscle relaxed. It was already starting to twinge.

 _This is going to be a problem._

 _With confidence, Ayake-sama._

I spied the two men that were sitting outside, facing the courtyard. Beside Ukitake-taicho, was a very relaxed Kyoraku-taicho who was leaning back on his hands. I hadn't gotten a good look at him before at the dinner. He was far more imposing than the friend that sat beside him. His top was split down at the front, showing off the start of his muscular and crafted body. He had long legs that were bent, holding in his power. He seemed to want to radiate a more masculine nature than his comrade.

His face, on the other hand, completely dopey. It completely offset the imposing figure of his body. He had long, wavy hair that he kept tied back with ribbon and a set of needles; minus for one strand that waved down in front of his right eye. He seemed to always be smiling, and there was a smoothness in his eyes, like he had never glared in his life.

I eased my way forward with a few breathes. As they saw me approaching, they resituated so that I could settle the tray more easily between them. Ukitake-taicho hadn't seemed to recognize me yet, so I continued with the small performance, letting the memory lead me. The tension in my back gave way as I shifted through the habitual actions. I placed a small napkin on my forearm before I set upon the tea.

I lifted the filter from the top of the tea pot, and settled in on a small plate. Closing the lid, I used my other hand to help balance the weight, as well as push my sleeve up my forearm. It was inappropriate and unbalanced to pour with just one hand, so it was important to use the other hand in some manner. Often times it would be placed on the bottom on the teapot.

However, if one had sleeves, they could potentially get in the way by blocking the pourer's view. In those cases, it was expected to hold back the sleeve, whilst keeping hand on the forearm to respect the balance theory.

My wrist arched as I poured from the appropriate height. Pouring was the easiest action, and I could do it quickly and deftly without a single drop spitting out or looping off the side. When I had finished I wiped down the spout quickly with the cloth, before easing it back onto its own plate, and then placed the cups appropriately in place.

Just as I was beginning my bow, Kyoraku-taicho spoke up, "where did you find this cutie?"

I bowed my head further and resolutely stared at my twitching feet. The blood was slowly running up to my head, and I could barely make out what was being said as Kumo was snickering right in my ears. Kumo was always calling me a child, but he found these situations far too funny. In my fit of embarrassment, the pressure I put on my leg starting triggering the cramp a bit. I felt the strain of my muscles as I was still standing.

"You're the one I met at the ceremony, aren't you?" I rose my head and looked at Ukitake-taicho who was addressing me. "I didn't realize you were joining my squad. Why didn't you mention it?"

I shifted, keeping off my right leg, and dropped my gaze over to the smiling Kyoraku-taicho before turning back to my captain. "I was a bit flustered."

"Oh? Because I caught you having a conversation with your zanpakuto spirit?"

"I shouldn't have been spacing out, captain. I promise, I'm usually very diligent." I huffed as the two man began to chuckle. "What?"

"There's no need to defend yourself - What happens to be your name?" Ukitake moved on, taking a few sips of his tea. I could smell the flavor from here so when he jerked back to stare at the cup, I knew what he was reacting to. It was a very fresh batch.

I bowed down lowly, addressing the two of them. "Ayake Ichiyuko. It's an honor to meet you both."

"Yare~ Someone raised you with good manners." I wouldn't necessarily agree with that comment, but he spoke through my mental commentary. "Makes sense with the pouring technique."

 _You did mention that the Kyoraku family was a noble one, Ayake-sama. I don't understand your surprise at his comment._

 _The Ukitake family is too, and taicho didn't seem to react to it._

 _Perhaps, he would have made a comment if this other one hadn't said something._

 _Why do you sound so upset?_

There was a snap, and I dove my attention back to the two captains. They were both giving me rather amused glances. It seems they had been trying to get my attention and had even addressed me. Damn that spider. Ukitake gave me a knowing look over his tea cup, keeping the commentary back.

Kyoraku-taicho, on the other hand, wrapped his hand around my arm and tugged me over. I totted over, slipping more and more pressure onto my right calf. "Tell your zanpakuto to quiet down for a minute. I'd like to keep your attention, lovely."

 _Tsk – How rude._

"Can you not flirt with my subordinates, Shunsui?" Ukitake chuckled as he gave the man a faux sincere look. There was too much of a glimmer that broached on amusement for him to be seriously reproaching the man. Did Ukitake-taicho ever get angry?

 _Damn_. My leg flared and clenched up. Gritting down, I tugged my arm from Kyoraku's incessant grip so that I could massage out the muscle. When that didn't work, I attempted to balance on one leg, so that my right leg to hang limp, whilst keeping to hands on the deck.

"Ayake-chan?"

"Just a cramp, captain."

I squeaked as I was tossed up into the air and onto the deck. More specifically, onto the lap of one Kyoraku-taicho. He wrapped his arm tightly around my waist and repositioned me so that my right leg was hanging off the side of the deck. At the same time, he leant over, crushing his chest against my back, so that he could rub at the muscle.

"This is really inappropriate, taicho." I pushed at the arm, before attempting to unlatch his fingers. When that didn't work, I found a way to wiggle between his bicep and chest and lay back. Using the wood, I slipped my entire body through the same crack. "Completely inappropriate."

"I was just trying to help out, lovely Yuko-chan."

Ukitake was giggling in his own corner, watching as Kyoraku-taicho and I stared off. Said man had a dopy grin on his face, not in even the slightest blush across his cheeks. He was being completely serious, in his own non-official way. It was taking a long to process in my brain. It had been completely out of bounds, and he was acting like he acted like that every day.

Another splutter of laughter brought me back. "Don't laugh captain. That - That was inappropriate."

"Sorry, Ayake-chan. That's just Shunsui. - It was probably his own way of pay you back for being so formal." Kumo was chittering in through my ears, and I could practically visual the way he was flashing his chest in an animalistic move of aggression. "More importantly, make sure to take it easy during your training. Cramps are usually the first sign of fatigue."

It was then I realized that the muscle had relaxed. I put my hand over the place that Kyoraku-taicho had been massaging, not feeling a single twitch of the skin or that internal twinge of pain. When I flashed the man a quick glance, he responded with a small wink. I felt my mouth twitch, so I rolled my lips in to prevent the smile from erupting through, as I looked back at the leg.

I rose my head up and looked between them. "Please excuse me. Thank you for your help."


	16. Chapter 15

I continued to serve tea to the captain every now and then for a few months. I was then specifically asked, by the captain himself, to serve him tea whenever Kyoraku-taicho was also attending. When it was just himself, he didn't seem bothered with whoever came to serve him, but when it was the two of them it always had to be me. When I had gotten the strength up to ask the captain, during a tea time when he was alone, he responded with, "Shunsui seems to have taken a liking to you…. Besides we, both, appreciate your company."

I had left with a flush so set on my face that several others in the company asked if I had a fever or if I was feeling sick. To be recognized in some manner by the captains was an honor, but the phrasing of the sentence was too casual. It wasn't like I was contributing to their conversations much, and adding the fact that I was significantly younger and inexperienced it was odd. I figured, Kyoraku-taicho just liked the idea of having a girl around.

Kumo, for all his overprotectiveness, snickered through my ears. _That man is a flirt, Ayake-sama._

 _Really? I had no idea._

 _No need to be so callous._

 _I thought you didn't like the idea of men touching me._

 _I don't. It's indecent, and with your history you should cautious - However, he's only flirting._

Every time I was attending to their tea, Kyoraku-taicho made the habit of trying to get me into his lap. He succeeded only a handful of times at the beginning because I had been caught unaware at his intentions. After that it became a sort of game. He would try to snatch and I would end up dodging away. Ukitake-taicho, for his part, watched on in amusement and sometimes chided at his friend, without doing much. I did know, however, that he was keeping a strict eye on me at those times.

"Bah~ I wouldn't worry about it too much, Yuko." Yoruichi waved her hand. We had settled into the hot spring in the training pit when we had both finally collapsed. It was Kisuke's second attempt at trying to replicate the onsen, so it was really nothing more than burning water. His goal was to integrate healing factors into the water.

"I just don't understand." I dumped my head back against the land and as I tried to relax my muscles again. They had bunched up as I retold Yoruichi the problem. Kyoraku-taicho would be coming for tea again this afternoon.

"He's just flirting with you."

"I'm an unseated officer."

Yoruichi's eyebrow rose and she lazily pointed her finger at me. "You really think that matters to a guy like him? He's known to be a flirt."

I sunk deeper; slowly sinking into the water until I was completely covered. I then popped back up and pushed the strand of my hair over my scalp. Yoruichi was eyeing me with that blank look, before something began to twist in her eyes. She inched a bit closer, as she leered at me.

"You think he's cute."

The statement sent my head swirling. I met her eyes evenly, being able to stare at them confidently now. The accusation sent a tiny, unnoticed pump through my heart. Kumo was the only one that felt the jolt.

"He's not unattractive."

"But you like that he's paying attention to you… You're just groaning about it because you want to talk about it."

"Absolutely not." I hoisted myself up and sat on the ledge. Between the two of us, Yoruichi and I, we easily paraded around naked in front of one another. Particularly at times like this. I took my towel and began to dry off, leaving the cat woman in the water looking up at me. "I just really don't understand."

The words seemed to pacify her. I had taken the words in stride and come out the other side of the investigation. I had seen girls with crushes and how they reacted in such a flustered manner when they tried to deny the boy they liked to their friends. I didn't like Kyoraku-taicho. I could easily admit that he was a man, and a very attractive one at that. Nothing ran through my veins when I looked at him.

"If that's the case, then stop thinking about it so much." Yoruichi swiped my towel as I finished using it. I was putting on my uniform as she continued, "Aren't you used to that sort of stuff anyway? From the brothel?"

I had told Yoruichi and Kisuke my history the night of the festival. It was not uncommon to get lower district souls that could get into the academy, but the majority were from fifty and above. Kisuke told me that even less seemed to have the potential that I did. And almost no one had come out of the 62nd in many years. I wasn't sure what to make of the comment, but it was a good boost to my ego.

They had asked for all sorts of comments until the information was all dried out. There were very few hints of judgement, but I was clearly able to explain how I had progressed through my time there without even touching a man. However men attempting and pursuing me was known to happen, particularly once I hit a more mature state and grew into my adult form.

"It's not what he says or does - I got used to being cold fronted by boys at the academy, I wasn't expecting for someone to be so open in pursuing women. Much less a noble and a captain of the Gotei 13."

"Hm~" Yoruichi yawned and stretched out her muscles a bit more. We were already walking through the forest as we were edging back into the white walls of Seireitei. "I guess I see what you're saying – But regardless of stature, social or whatnot, he's still a man. Just do whatever you want."

Yoruichi and I branched off into our different directions. With a few flash-steps I returned to the thirteenth barracks, in time to get into some cleaner robes and make it into the kitchen. Being part of the kitchen staff, I was able to swipe a few of the left-overs from lunch without any one complaining while I helped with the clean-up. As I was finishing up, I left the leaves to steep in the boiling water. Ukitake-taicho liked to have a very strong flavor, since it was the type of tea that became sweeter as it steeped.

 _She had a fair point._

 _You were the one being overprotective, Kumo._

 _That's merely because you're a child._

 _And when will I not be one anymore?_

 _I'll let you know._

I rolled my eyes at that. Setting up the tray, I began to move over towards toward the awning where the two captains were sat. Both greeting me with a smile, and settled into greeting me and dosing out bits of small talk. I responded lightly, as I poured at the tea.

Just as I was settling the teapot down, Ukitake-taicho leeched my left hand away from my arm. "What happened here?"

I peered over at the skin that had a pallet of bruises. Yoruichi must have taken it too far whilst we were in training. If I remembered correctly, she had sent me straight into a cradle of rocks where I had to protect my head with my left arm and then proceeded to keep kicking on my left side. She was trying to pick on my weakness, but it had gotten a bit over the top. I was now sporting discolored skin that was shaded a deep, dark purple.

"Training, captain."

"Lovely Yuko-chan is hurt?" Ukitake basically gifted my arm over to the other man, which he sucked right into his body. His finger prodded gently at the skin, as he commented back to the white haired captain about what to do.

"It's really okay, Ukitake-taicho, Kyoraku-taicho. I have some soothing balm in my quarters, and it'll be cleared in no time at all."

Kyoraku was humming lightly as he continued to look over it, only closing in when I had attempted to take my arm away. His long fingers continued to swipe over the skin, like the hands of a ghost. He really was a man. I could practically draw the fingers in my mind; strong, sturdy, and thick. Tracing my eyes up, I peered into the rather distraught look on his face, though it was only a small narrowing of his eyes and a small quirk of his lips.

I leaned forward slightly so that I was looking up at him from below. Slowly I flipped my arm around so that my own fingers could grasp onto his wrist. My fingers barely touched as they locked around the bone in a noticeable grasp. His brown eyes shuffled over towards me, meeting my half-lidded gaze.

The words slithered out, low and to the ground like a snake attempting to encircle its prey which was this man's worry. "Kyoraku-taicho, I'll be fine."

 _How crude, Ayake-sama._

 _He's a man._

 _No need to act in such a manner._

 _He's a man, Kumo._

In the time I had spent berating with my spirit, said man had begun laughing. Not in the loud sense. Deep rolls of rumbling from his chest and out his mouth, in thickened chuckles. I pulled away as we both unlocked from one another. I traced the forearm that held the whispers of his touch, as I peered over at him from the corner of my eye, keeping my nose down towards the ground.

"Now that's a look, Yuko-chan." There was something dark in the smile that he was thrusting my way; no longer the placid twist of his lips. "I hope that's purely for me."

 _Tsk—_

 _Kumo._

"I'm not sure I know exactly what you mean Kyoraku-taicho." I twisted a few strands of my hair that had escaped, and tucked it behind my ear. I gave my best hosting smile, eyeing the man more fully. "I was only attempting to make you worry less. – This is not an ailment you have to worry about."

"Yare~." He elongated the word slightly, a deep gruff floating out. His two locked eyes took a moment before he turned over to Ukitake-taicho with his normal smile re-emerging. "Jushiro you've got a dangerous one."

The man eyed the situation, trying to analysis it, before he nodded his head and gave a warm smile. He gave me a quick glance before returning to sipping his tea. "I think the only dangerous one here is you."

Kumo abruptly started snickering in my head, as I angled my head down to hide my laughs. Kyoraku-taicho, never spluttered, merely waving off his friends comments as he tried to argue his case. The two man conversed; Ukitake taking the teasing side, Kyoraku trying to fend off the comments with what he considered to be objective statements.

Time seemed to pass as normal. Between tea with the two captains, training, and the other odd jobs a little over a year had passed. It seemed the only thing that had grown was my small inability to connect with my shikai. Even with the long conversations, and my growing aptitude for theory, physically growing into my shikai form was ware-and-tear. I toiled over it, my heart beating in a frenzy of embarrassment any time my two friends wanted to see it, or someone at the squad suggested using it.

I let out a wrangled sigh and pushed it out. I had found a nice location on the top of the main barracks roof. It wasn't hidden, exactly, but it seemed very few people every came up here. It allowed me to sense if I was needed elsewhere, while simultaneously giving the chance of escaping from everything. I sighed again, my ankles twisting about as I tried to get rid of my thoughts. Just thinking about it got me nervous.

"So that's who's sighing so loudly." I jumped and sat up straight as Ukitake-taicho appeared in front of me. He wrung out his wrist, before gifting me with a glance. "What's got you upset?"

"Taicho," I stumbled off for words, "don't you have paperwork to do?"

His face fell before shifting so that his eyes looked large and his bottom lip trembled slightly. He squatted down, clutching his knees to his chest as he gave me a heavy look. "Do you not want me here?"

I fumbled again as I quickly bowed, with my head touching the roof tiles. He laughed and started to pat my head, before telling me to rise. He ushered me to sit more comfortably, while coming to join me at the side. He asked no questions as we situated ourselves on the roof. I chanced a few looks over to the man, but he was only staring off into the rolling hills of the training grounds. A few groups had settled down and were working on their basic forms, with the continuous chant of "one, two" serenading them.

"You seem bothered."

I sighed again and brought my legs up so that I could hold them. I wrung out my sleeves as I gripped them too tightly. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

"Not at all. It gives me a nice break from having to sign all those papers. - You're hand starts to ache if you do it for too long, you know?" He was smiling as he twisted his wrist around in a few circles. "You don't have to tell me, but is there something I can maybe help you with?"

I snuggled down into my hakama, cradling my cheeks into my knees. I peered over the tops of the small mountains as I noticed a few pairs had split off and were practicing zanjustu with a practice match. They moved so fluidly. Ukitake-taicho was like reiryuko by my side; tingling and effervescent in that ever-present sort of way that always had you acknowledging it, but never harnessing unless you sought it out. It was comforting, even if there was nothing said.

"Is it your training?"

"Eh?"

Ukitake-taicho smiled again, more broadly this time as he took in my reaction. It was obvious that's what I had been thinking about. "You always seem to be training a lot in your free time… Although, where you do it I have no clue. I never see you in the training grounds here."

"I train with a few friends from the academy." He nodded but I saw the curiosity in his face. "They're in the second division."

"I see."

Like boiling water, all the words came running out of my mouth. I barely had any time to think about what I was saying as I started to go on and on about how I wasn't really connected with my sword. That I had barely managed to maintain a shikai state for more than a minute, and the weird pressure I felt since my friends already had such strong aptitude for fighting. I even bore out the deepest doldrums of worries, without blinking twice.

Ukitake-taicho listened, watched, and nodded. He never pressed for information, nor asked for any clarifying information. He listened fully and intently with both eyes and ears but never with actions. There was a keen observation that shined through as he solidified the thoughts from my words and from my actions. He only stopped me once, when he thought that I was going to toss it over the side of the roof. Then he let me proceed with what I had been saying.

My face heated as the faucet of my words spluttered to a close. "and that's - yeah…. Gomen."

"Why are you apologizing?" His smile was the first reaction that had occurred in the series of minutes that had passed from when I began speaking. "There's no need to apologize for seeking advice."

"I just started talking."

"You had a lot on your mind, Ayake-chan. - I didn't realize how deeply you thought about such issues."

"Is that bad?"

We stared off into the horizon for a moment. I could tell from the lack of focus in his gaze he was collecting his thoughts to tell me something. I nestled down into my knees again, holding them close as I hugged myself. I felt Kumo slide into places of my thoughts, and cover over the profuse mass of mold that had grown. It kept the worries at bay for a moment, as I was both mentally and physically protected.

"It's not bad to think in such a way, Ayake-chan. It reminds me a bit of Shunsui, actually." He laughed as my face balked. I knew that Kyoraku-taicho had to be intelligent for him to be a captain, but he radiated nothing of the sort. "I think you'd have a wonderful time talking with him about your other questions - But back to the manner on hand, do you mind me asking what your shikai is supposed to be?"

All Shinigami straight from the academy were very protective about the form and techniques that there shikai possessed. It wasn't from a fear of abuse, but that it was like a window of understanding. Your zanpakuto spirit represented part of who you were, and it was important to maintain a level of secrecy over that part. It was a very vulnerable part, and it was tough the first few times to come to terms that it wouldn't be too revealing to talk about it.

Kisuke had tried several times to ask me, after I mentioned I had gotten the information from Kumo after I had accidentally unlocked my shikai during the extermination excursion. I blocked all of his attempts by saying that I would only tell him when I got a better grasp of it. He huffed and puffed, trying to pull tid-bits out, even going so far as to trick me into telling him something.

"They look kind of like gloves," I gestured with my hands, cutting a line into my forearm, "they go up to a about here on my arm…. And for fingers I have really long spikes. The material is hardened from what Kumo tells me, so it kind of acts like armor against swords and the nails are hard enough to penetrate through a hollow's mask."

"I see. So you've been talking to your zanpakuto about this." Ukitake hummed as he placed a hand on his chin. He lowered his gaze to the sword that had be moved to rest in between us. "Has he mentioned any of his abilities?"

"He says that the nails can do anything I want them to do, but all I've gotten them to do is lengthen and shorten before my reiatsu gives out."

"So presumably there might be something else that your shikai can do."

"Presumably."

"Well, I don't really see much of a problem," Ukitake stated after a moment. I felt like my eyes were about to bulge out of my head as he said that. "It's not bad to have a goal you're aiming at, but don't think that there's some sort of deadline. A good Shinigami is not one that has the best skills, but one that puts their all into battle."

"But I want to get better."

Ukitake settled me with a strong gaze. "You will. You seem determined enough to master your shikai, and you'll gain the experience of hard-work through trial and error. Don't you think you're only comparing yourself to other people right now?"

"Eh?"

"You're comparing yourself to your friends… From what I can tell, they're both very strong individuals. But that's not to say you're not. Who were you before you started the academy? Before graduation? Those are the only standards you should compare yourself to."

My eyebrows furrowed as I lowered my gaze down to the ground. Kumo's sealed state seemed to rock in acknowledgement of Ukitake-taicho's words. It was true. I had been placing both Kisuke and Yoruichi on a pedestal. They had graduated into such strong positions, and I felt underwhelmed by my successes compared to theirs.

"You're friends seemed to have tapped into their growth spurt a bit earlier than most people. There are a few that are like that when they come from the academy. Their natural talents seem to align with the experience and they grow tremendously quick," Ukitake spoke.

It really did sound like Kisuke and Yoruichi. Kisuke who had grown up in one of the top districts.

He had worked for a few years, gaining some of the abilities he knew of that would help him pass the academy with flying colors. And had a natural inclination for understanding the mechanisms that were reishi and reiryoku.

Yoruichi who was from a noble household and was born into her abilities, and had already solidified them by the time that she got to the academy. Match that with her keen observational and learning skills and her enthusiasm for learning kido and shunpo, and she could master talents very easily.

"But barring that aside, a regular person also has that same potential and that exact same skillset. They just take a bit longer to develop than the few that are considered "naturals" or "geniuses". There is no naturally talented person that is better off than someone who works hard - Everyone comes to stand equally at the finish line."

I combed furiously through my hair and refashioned into a ponytail. My limbs trembled with a force I had no clue about. My heart was practically tearing through the wall of my ribs. Swiping up my sword, I hopped up. Kumo thrummed beneath me, having felt the new wave of emotions coursing through. The energy slide and holstered to every part of my body.

"Thank you, Ukitake-taicho." I beamed my largest smile at the startled man. "I've got some serious training to do."


	17. Chapter 16

"Well, I told her she shouldn't give up but I didn't expect her to keep disappearing like that." Jushiro muttered as he explained what had happened to his friend, Shunsui. The two had met up for a late evening chat out on the veranda of the main barracks in the thirteenth squad.

The man next to him chuckled, and shuffled his haori back onto his shoulder. Long gone was the hat, which now rested behind his leaning left hand. "Yare~ She's seems so determined that one."

Shunsui let his words tapper off as he briefed over what Jushiro told him. Ayake Ichiyuko had been in an absolute huff the past couple of weeks. Now slipping easily into the third month, her control was getting better but the exhaustion seemed to have become more apparent making her a bit colder than before. Never once had she abandoned her duties, but she had come close a few times apparently.

According to a few of the others at the thirteenth, she had taken to using shunpo everywhere she went. Even in the smallest of spaces; apparently as a training technique to learn how to maneuver around in tighter areas. During her trainings with the rest, she rose to be every one's sparring partner, and she got back up time and time again. Her kido had already come along nicely, so while she wasn't so focused on that she helped out with a few others who had asked for assistance.

Shunsui had only bothered asking because the girl had barely given him a whiff of attention. He had just about gotten her to react to his flirting. That look she had given him had set him into motion for attempting new things to get her attention. However, she had immediately asked to be dismissed whenever she came over. It happened every single time, and he had briefly wondered if he had accidently frightened her.

Now that he knew what it was really about, he could remember the details a bit more clearly. She was never in an unkept state when she served them tea, but her muscles were locked and there were also bruises on her forearms. Ayake's reiatsu seemed to flare at odd moments, and he remembered seeing her grit her teeth several times as she was trying to control the growth.

"She's got very good potential." Jushiro muttered.

"You know she'll wear herself thin at the rate she's going."

Jushiro huffed and took a look at his friend from the corner of his eye. "You've taken a lot of interest in her recently."

"Not my fault. She so cute~"

Jushiro rolled his eyes at that. His friend had always been an innocent flirt when it came to women that he thought attractive. He had a bad habit of not knowing when to back off, except when the situation was actually serious.

Jushiro hadn't thought much about the flirting at all. Ayake-chan was a very cute girl; although her face was almost fashioned a bit like a noble with a rigid, cold sort of beauty. It was the way her eyes widened and her cheeks flared out in a shade of brilliant red. They softened her looks and made her appear more like a girl, than when she looked placid and calm. He could see why Shunsui had taken a liking to her face.

It didn't annoy Jushiro, per say, he just worried that it might get a bit overbearing for the poor girl. Age wasn't so much a factor when souls took centuries to look old. Ayake-chan could have been anywhere from five hundred to a hundred, depending on when she had died in the human world. She already looked to be in her early twenties by human age. It was not inappropriate in that sense. Jushiro just thought that the girl had a sense of propriety and he wasn't sure it meshed well with Shunsui's.

She had said the most interesting things, though. It reminded him of a moment when he first met Shunsui. Jushiro softened up and looked up at the sky. His friend shifting around and standing up, got him from his thoughts. He looked off to where his friend was watching.

A young man had come through the doors of the squad, and was walking by a good few feet away. His movements were gracefully and cautious, making sure not to shift the smaller girl that was on his back. The blonde's head jolted when he caught sight of the captains, the both of which quickly gestured for him to go over to them. He turned his head over his shoulder and slowly shifted his arms due to the tiredness, making sure that she was okay, and then proceeded over to the figures.

On his back was the very slumped and exhausted Ayake Ichiyuko. She hung all her weight onto the boy's arms and back. Her head dumped onto his shoulders, and her arms dangling off, scrapping at his chest every now and again. Her face and body carried the obvious signs of wear and tear; a few obvious scraps and bruises could be seen in the exposed limbs, along with the dirt that was crumbling off her fingers and her clothing.

"Second division?" Shunsui noted the small emblem on the front of the boy's shihakusho. There was a jerk in his friend's tone that Jushiro stored away in his memory. "How'd you find our little Yuko-chan?"

"Ah!" Jushiro chimed. Ayake-chan hadn't told him any details, but he remembered that she had mentioned the second division. "You wouldn't happen to be one of Ayake-chan's friends from the academy."

"Urahara Kisuke, sir…. I kept her late with training. She exhausted herself." He shifted slightly and jostled the girl's frame. He twisted back to spy the head that was resting on his shoulder before turning back to the captains, who were coming forward in concern.

"Her reiatsu's a bit shaky right now." Shunsui, without too much thought, collected the girl into his arms and walked to place her on the veranda.

Jushiro watched the movements, taking in the white sheen that had collected on Ayake's face more than Shunsui's behavoir. "What exactly were you two doing?"

"Just basic hakudo and kido, sir." Kisuke waved his arms about trying to get the pressure of their concern off. "She's been training really hard lately so I think it's just a build up."

"If you noticed something wrong you should have told her to sit out." Jushiro placed a cushion under her head. "You're seated officer aren't you? Surely they've told you how to detect reiatsu depletion."

Shunsui wasn't surprised when Jushiro went on to scold the boy, who now looked like he was working up a nervous sweat. Ayake had been rather limp when he carried her over to the veranda. Her form now looked very vulnerable in her deep sleep.

The brown-haired captain turned to eye the boy that had brought her in. The boy shifted a bit around, wavering his gaze around as he considered his words. His arms seemed trap at his sides, but his fingers were rubbing at his clothing. He looked equally tired from the training, but he was nowhere near the edge that Ayake could have slipped off of consciousness. There was a big discrepancy in their abilities. It was easy to tell that he overpowered the girl.

"You were doing zanpakuto training weren't you?" Jushiro railed out as his final declaration.

The boy jostled with the words and his face crunched up in concern. "She wanted to. If I had realized that she had been that tired, I wouldn't have gone along with it."

"Let's calm down." Shunsui cut through Jushiro's near-line lecture. The blonde looked relieved to get out of the stream of words that were targeted at him. "There's no damage that she can't sleep off. It was irresponsible to let her train in her state, regardless of you not being able to sense if she could pull of your training or not."

"I understand."

"You must notice that she's at a lower level than you, no? You should be tailoring your training to suit her needs."

Jushiro watched the interaction carefully. Shunsui's form was hunched slightly, his arms coming together underneath the sleeves of his kosode. He stood a little less than a head above the younger, but his form gave him the ability to tower over the blonde. It probably had to do with the nervous way the blonde was cradling the back of his head and was mumbling out his words.

Where Shunsui would normally have taken the back seat and let him take control of the teaching, his friend seemed very careful about how he was berating the younger Shinigami. Jushiro huffed from his new position in the back. He had been asked to calm down and there was Shunsui putting up all the arguments that he was going to make. Although he was much more placid about it, instead of the prickling tone that Jushiro had been using.

Jushiro chuckled slightly at the amount of concern his flirtatious friend was sending off. It might not have been so weird if not for the bite in the way he had acknowledged the male Shinigami at first. It was so minimal, but it was just enough that it gave Jushiro reason to laugh.

Shunsui made quick work of sending the boy scampering off with a clear understanding and new information about what to do in those situations. As he came to sit by his snow-haired friend that was sitting calmly back on the veranda, having situated the girl of concern back to the wall. He recognized the sneaky smile that was coming up on his friends' face.

"What?" He proded.

He received a slow shake of his friends head. "You certainly took care of that well."

"He's still pretty fresh from the academy. You jumped down his throat too quickly."

"I'd say you did more of that than I did…. If I didn't know better I would say you really come to care for your little Yuko-chan."

"She's so cute~ Even when she's trying to ignore me."

Jushiro laughed. It was too soon to tell, but he'd keep his suspicions in the back of his head for now. He'd also make sure to keep an eye on those two.

Kisuke had relayed the events of the a few nights previous when I next met up with him to train. That was why he had suddenly turned me around and forced me to head back towards the thirteenth division. Apparently he had ended up making a deal with Kyoraku-taicho about using the training grounds at the squad, so that Ukitake-taicho could oversee the training. Kisuke had agreed since he noticed how drained I had been, and chided at me to tell him when I wasn't feeling well, so that it would never happen again.

The other requirement was that we stuck purely to hakudo or to kido. I couldn't do any zanpakuto training for the next week so as to give me time to rejuvenate a bit. Ukitake-taicho had been very strict on the point, and had even threatened to lock the sword in his office to make sure that I followed through.

I blocked the kick that Kisuke sent at my head with my left wrist. Using my right hand I grabbed onto it, and ducking under the leg, came up with an uppercut towards his face. He dodged by falling backwards, while circling around so his right leg came down for a front kick. I let his other leg go so that I could dodge the kick.

Somehow in the middle of his mid-air tumble, he had gotten in position to flash-step right behind me. I turned around, aiming a kick towards his torso with my leg. Pivoting on my right foot so that I was now facing my friend, I pressed my middle and forefingers against his torso.

"Bakudo 1: Sai." As Kisuke went tumbling down on his back, with his arms locked underneath him, I gained my leg back and with that my balance.

Kisuke struggled for a moment before stopping and looking up at me from the dirt. "Good job, Yuko-chan."

"You could get out of that you know."

"Well aware," his voice climbed to that higher pitch, as he leveraged himself up to a sitting position. "But you won that one fair and square."

I crossed my arms with a pout. "You went easy on me. - Don't tell me that you're still worried about me passing out."

Sudden clapping caught our attention, and we both turned to see that the captain had arrived to watch. Behind him were a few other curious members of the squad. Ukitake-taicho was beaming, continuing his clap as he walked even closer.

"That was a great match." My taicho released the seal I had used. Kisuke rubbed out his wrists and then his forearms, whilst watching the captain as much as I was. "Do you always train at that frequency?"

"Captain?"

He turned towards me, and then gestured over to the group that had scattered about. "They asked me to come because they weren't sure if you were overworking yourself again."

 _What?_

 _You've forgotten that you and Kisuke were using shunpo._

 _Those guys have seen shunpo before._

 _Probably not at the same volume and frequency that you two were using it._

"Our other friend is very talented with her shunpo, so we use it as much as possible." I tuned back in as Kisuke replied. Ukitake-taicho had helped him off from the ground and was nodding. "I'd say Yuko-chan's is getting pretty close… Probably from all the tag they play."

"Tag?"

"Yes, captain. It's a technique they use to practice both long-range and short-range shunpo use."

I looked across the terrain. The ground had been upturned and land where the grass had grown was now barren. Feeling a bit bad, I kicked a bit at some of the rubble close by. Kisuke and I, it seemed, had gotten a bit carried away with how we were fighting. I'll have to join the agriculture groups for a bit to help repair the damage.

 _These place is meant for training, Ayake-sama._

 _We didn't have to destroy the terrain._

 _Don't feel sorry for taking on your opponents with all your strength_

"There's still something I don't understand," I looped back to the conversation. Ukitake's voice sounded very serious, and when I looked over at him he was already peering at me. "You were two were fighting at level exceeding that of a tenth seat…. Ayake-chan how are you still unseated?"

Behind Ukitake-taicho was Kisuke's gleaming face. He had appeared nervous on the arrows of questions thrown at him about the training but now his gray eyes had slanted and there was a sneaky upturn of his smirk. There was a spark of pride flashing right through. He may have been taking it easy on me, but even that was only slightly. I should have never have told him about my concerns of rising up the ranks.

…. _That man._

 _You should have known better, Ayake-sama._


	18. Chapter 17

Ukitake-taicho underwent the arduous task of realigning the division. After fighting several other opponents, solely with hakuda and kido, I made the rank of 9th seat. Both Kisuke and Yoruichi took me out for a meal as a celebration that same night. All three were adamant, however, about me continuing to train with my zanpakuto and to master it; giving me shoves and nudges to get me through more and more training.

My first hollow missions were out in the Rukongai. Two in the 45th, three out in 73rd, and two in 32nd. It had been my first time returning to the outer districts in a little over eight years. I was thankful that I hadn't ended up somewhere like the 62nd where I might have been recognized. The impact of just stepping into those streets was full enough; full with every sort of memory that I could possible conceive.

The first time I arrived at the 73rd, I was absorbed into the people there. I stayed far away from the city-center, as Shinigami weren't exactly liked, but I could make out the ragged clothes, worn bodies, and dirt-infested living style. Few houses had been built up, and look stable enough for decent living. Those were always the ones that people tried to jam themselves into. Others had the roofs caving in right over the peoples' heads as they slept at night. Kumo had seemed to glue my memories and package them off to a deep crevice of my brain, because I had nearly forgotten how I had lived my first year in Soul Society.

I holstered my sword and made sure that my shihakuso was align before I stepped out of the room. Ukitake-taicho had assigned me to help out with the 4th year academy students today, as they went out on their first extermination practice to the real world. It was the type of mission that offered more experience, whilst not biting off more than I could chew. It was just precautionary work; mainly to make sure that the students could deal with a few hollows.

"Ayake Ichiyuko reporting." I came down to the ground as I joined the other group of assembled officers at the school gates.

Tachibana Moriko, Shigatze Todo, and Hirako Shinji greeted and introduced themselves in that order. We spoke casually as we waited for the teachers to organize the students into their groups and to give out the rules. In turn I received my own few directions and a radio to communicate with the other three, just in case of emergencies. I also found out that both Moriko and Todo were only a seat above in squad ten, while Shinji was a third seat in squad five.

He was an odd man, with his waist long blonde hair, amber eyes, and perfectly straight teeth. He was slight and tall enough, though it wasn't enough to really hover. He seemed to kind of shrink in the uniform he was wearing. From the way that he was watching though, it seemed that he had very ingrained leadership skills, with an observational capacity to knick-pick at the weaknesses and strengths of the people around him. I noticed that when he called out a few students who were messing around by pulling attention to their faults through a series of belying jokes.

He caught my staring and smirked. The movement triggered a reflex action to back-up, but I stood where I was as he spoke. "Don't get distracted now."

 _Kansai-ben?_

 _Don't focus on that, Ayake-sama. Saying something back._

 _Why?_

 _Because you should put him in his place. It was demeaning._

"I won't." I shook my hilt as made sure to look like I was focused on the clean grouping that were forming. I titled my head so I could look back at him and his smirking face coyly. "I've seen better."

"Che…" His eyes slipped away from me as he too turned to the group, though his smirk remained. "Fiesty."

"Always, lovely." I added a small addition to Kyoraku-taicho's typical term of endearment by wiggling my fingers as I walked over to the group I was going to be trailing. I was followed after by a few snickers, although I never turned back to see who it was from.

 _Why did I do that?_

 _You put him in his place._

 _Aren't you supposed to be the mature one?_

 _I have no idea of what you are saying._

 _Tsk… How rude~_

 _Don't patronize me, child._

I chuckled as I came out from that world and watched over the movements of my group. Kumo seemed to have an ongoing complex with his pride, which meant that I too also had one.

The group of students below me had taken seats in the clearing after a harder bought against a hollow. This was their second to last one that they would be bringing done before they would be returning home. Their teamwork had really solidified after that last one.

They had been given time to take respites, without it being a mark down on their performance. None of them had wandered off. All of them staying where I could see them from my perch on the tree branch, as I had directed.

Something slinked through my chest. I felt riveted down to my perch, as I clung to the bark. It chipped and frayed as I dug my fingernails in. I looked around at the field. Visually there was nothing at all amiss with the situation. I counted through my students three times, finding all of them to be there. I then swept the area, lingering on the areas in the shadows where something might be hard to fight. There were few, but even those lay empty of anything.

My heart collected a few beats as something else fell by me. I shot my eyes over to my side, but found nothing but the expanse of trees; a tunnel whose floors was branches, and whose roof was leaves tapering off into a shadow. The wind whistled by, sending up a flurry of leaves in a natural pattern. I took deep breathes, coming into a kneeling position on the branch. I felt too vulnerable sitting with my legs swinging down and my back open to exposure. After a few moments passed, and a shiver crawled down my spine, I jumped from the branch and began to walk towards the group.

 _Ayake-sama!_

I felt the air shift behind me as I totted towards the left to avoid the incoming object. Falling into a roll, I made it off towards my left hand side with a small bit of grace. I rapidly eyed the object that had tried to impale my back.

A crab based hollow, with one large pincer extending to where I had been previously. At first glance I had assumed, because of the animalistic qualities of its face that its body would be that as well. It was standing upright, with two legs and pincers for arms. Its putrid yellow eyes flashed from behind its mask, as it had followed the movements I made. It followed them a bit too clearly.

I flipped backwards tumbling straight for the body of the tree as the hollow shot over at me. It appeared that it could move in whatever manner it wanted. Repositioning and drawing out my sword, I pushed from my position and flew over it. As I thrust my sword down towards its mask, the body vanished without a trace.

 _An adjuchas…_

I rounded over to the students, some of whom had taken a slight bit of notice to what was going on. Two had appeared up at the tree line. I made it over just in time to grab the two and thrust them away as another pincer came down to the group. I barely avoided the damage it could have done with a jump. As I floated down to the ground, the hollow had vanished again from sight.

 _It seems to have the ability to go invisible, Ayake-sama._

 _I noticed_.

Fisting my sword tightly into my hand, I turned towards the students. They had taken the standard squad procedure, to huddle up in a large, concentrated circle. Their backs against one another, and their swords pointing outwards as they scanned the area. The ones in the center were either looking through the windows of the shoulders in front or where eyeing the sky. I proceeded over to them with no more than two steps and took a quick eye at the first swords that I could find. It didn't seem that any of them had talked to their zanpakuto spirits yet.

"Stay alert. The hollow seems to have the ability of invisibility." I muttered out as I turned around, sword at the ready with a steady kendo stance. Surely, between all of us we could at least damage it enough to get away.

 _What is it doing here?_ I flickered my eyes around as heard the slow clank of a pincer. It was coming from deep in the tree line, but being surrounded by nothing but trees it was impossible to tell which direction.

 _Perhaps it felt the build up of reiatsu from all the students?_

From the opposite side of the circle there was a small cry. Pivoting as fast as I could, I vaulted around the circle and grabbed for the hand of the student that had gotten her leg captured in its pincer. Failing, and lying prone on the ground, the second pincer came down towards me. I could feel the way the air sucked into a spiral, so I was able to duck out of the way. I faintly made out the sounds of the radio cracking, as I watched the hollow vanish with the female already between his teeth.

The air became a mess. As a sword fell, tip into the earth, with a cool, clean _slink_ , the students who had been wrapped in a coat of shock, broke into hysterics. Some began to cry and whimper. The earth vibrated with a few thumps to the ground. I heard a lot of rustling of fabrics and smacks against skin. Some of the stronger students were already talking, but soon those words faded into the deep holes of despair.

I stayed on the ground. From where I lay, I could make out the small splatters of her blood that had fallen to the ground. The splatters had pooled slightly in the lake of saliva that had dropped from the hollow's mouth. They stood out in a rose red color, against the clear container; some even creating some cataracts as the blood dispersed from its single circle. Contrary to popular belief, blood fell in the cleanest of ways, sloping like any other liquid around its environment.

The image of her form, between the monster's teeth came back. She had the nicest brown eyes that had clouded over and were half clinging to life, uncovered by the eyelids that had flown back. Her mouth was slack from a scream unvoiced. There had been a few crunching sounds, as the hollow had grinded its teeth against her body.

 _Move Ayake-sama._

As I picked myself up from the ground, my hand cramped slightly when I put pressure on the shards of the radio receiver. Flicking the pieces away, I checked my neck to feel that there was only a small scratch where the hollow had gotten to me. Perhaps, he had aimed there on purpose; perhaps, he hadn't and had just gotten lucky. Or, maybe, I was the one that got lucky.

"Hey," I called out, finally noticing the jostled situation of my student group. Most of them had fallen to the floor in some sort of agony. "Hey! - Who's the best at sensing here?"

A few hands went into the air, quivering under the mental strain. They had just lost a classmate before their eyes. I gathered them closer to me as I continued, "Which of you is the best at shunpo?"

His name was Kotoro Tetsuya. He coughed up his bile and spat it down onto the earth as I gave him the mission to find the closest group. Having lost the ability to communicate, I had to use the next best option, which was sending a student as messenger. If the other seated officers with me had noticed the new reiatsu or not, I needed to get the notice out quickly.

"The rest of you," I proceeded to round up the students that were left. I had sent Tetsuya and one other who had the guts to start moving, and watching them disappear. "Get everyone up. If they don't wake up put them on someone's back - You're all going to retreat."

"Alone?" Various types of comments like that followed through. Some asking me to go with them.

I waved through those comments bringing the first silence to the clearing in the past ten minutes. The hollow was probably enjoying his kill as we were doing all this preparation. My mouth puckered up at the thought, and I gritted my teeth. With whatever time remaining, I would have to get rid of the students.

"Not alone, as a group. You travel as fast as you can together. Don't leave anyone behind." Some of the students left had already gone ahead with trying to wake up their brethren. The ones that were too groggy were already hoisted up onto some backs or were being carried between two people. "You're going to head back to the senkaimon. It should still be open, since they're expecting you. – I'll distract it while you guys get going."

The group, teary eyed and exhausted already, tensed their legs. With a flare of my reiatsu they dispersed, and I saw their backs heading towards the direction of the gateway home. I pushed a little bit more out, in hopes of masking the auras that were leaving the area quickly. It was all in hopes that the hollow hadn't been watching us in the first place. I kept an eye on those retreating backs until they completely disappeared. The grip of my sword opened and then released.

 _Good, focus, child… Breathe. I'm with you this entire way._

I adjusted into my kendo stance, closing my eye. I tried to situate myself with the feelings of the wind, and the sounds of the environment around. With my eyes closed I could gain a better grasp of where the adjuchas could potentially be. It didn't appear that his invisibility masked over his reiatsu, so I should still have something left to trace him by.

"One Shinigami left to play." The words came out from every surrounding tree. I opened my eyes slowly as I maneuvered my eyes around the area. "You do seem to have the most presence."

"How did you get here?"

"Like anyone, through a door."

I narrowed my eyes. This adjuchas was very smart to have just walked straight through a door to human world. I didn't know that it was even possible for hollows to walk out of Hueco Mundo without some sort of rip in the seams. It was worse that the hollows seemed to be able to interpret that sort of information and use it to their advantage.

"Where are your thoughts?" A large pincer came swooping from the ground as the hollow landed right by my side. I flipped several times out of the way and skidded to a halt. From the looks of it, he really had eaten the girl. There were blood stains all along his teeth. "You'll need to pay attention if you want to survive."

We charged straight at one another. One of his pincers came shooting out during the run, which I cut aside before using it as a wall to jump to his face. Drawing my sword up as I headed towards him, I attempted to slash him, but he ducked and vanished again.

 _That invisibility is going to get annoying._

 _Stay focused, Ayake-sama!_

I scrambled out of the way with a duck and roll, as he appeared behind and tried to jam his pincer down again. Looking at him upside down, I thrust my two hands out towards him. "Hado 1: Sho." As flashed over him as he zoomed away, as if having been pushed by a tremendous blast of wind. I followed through with a "Bakudo 1: Sai" and then a "Bakudo 4: Hainawa".

He fell to the ground with a thump, whilst I plopped down from my position in the air. I slowly placed one foot in front of the other as I carried myself over to his prone from. His yellow eyes dancing as they followed me down. My heart picked up, as guttural laughter began to pour out.

"You're right to be so cautious." Instantaneously the restraints burst away and his pincer came out digging into my stomach. Thrusting himself forward, he carried the two of us over to the opposite side of the clearing, nearly cracking the tree that he wanted to keep me pressing up against. "You're not as fun as I'd hoped you'd be, Shinigami."

 _Ayake-sama, just keep trying to breath._ I had lost my sword somewhere in the midst of the travel, and I unconsciously tried to wrap my hands around the non-existent hilt as I heard him call. The hollow's pincer was pushing all the way through. I could feel it as it began to tear at my clothing and then into my skin. I hacked up breath I didn't even have.

There was a strong gust of wind just above my head and the hollow disappeared from my view. I slumped down against the tree. The top half clobbered over, falling with a shower of leaves and the cracking of branches. The bottom half stayed rooted against me, supporting my delirious body. My chest hurt as I tried to pull in breathes.

"Sorry for taking so long." I turned my vision to the blue hair of my savoir. I nodded faintly, trying to maintain a hold on her. "I'm the first one here, but Shinji is very close. Todo has gone and rounded up all the students to get them back."

I heard the sound of blood dripping more than I heard her voice telling me the situation. I drew one finger around the injury that had formed. He hadn't gotten down to my organs, but there was definitely a hole where there shouldn't be. I knocked my head against the tree, as I leaned into it more.

"Hey, now, don't go to sleep." Moriko had kneeled down to my level, and was checking through the wound by herself. "You need to stay up."

"Okay," I mumbled through my raging throat. Through all the gasping for air, I must have damaged the skin there.

Her hand clamped more tightly on my shoulder, before she grabbed under my arm and began to drag me up. My leg shook under my weight, but the more air I breathed the clearer the vision became. "What can you tell me about that bastard?"

"Adjuchas level. Invisibility."

"Shit, really?" Moriko put her sword up more firmly, as we walked into the clearing. Although it would leave the two of us having to stay extra alert, it was better than being by the tree-line where there were more things that could block our view. "Let's get your zanpakuto first."

We inched our way across the field, Moriko slowly losing her hold on me as my steps became a bit more confident. I still teetered over, since the pain was something I had never felt before but I could make it through this.

 _That's right, Ayake-sama. Continue one step at a time._

I picked up my zanpakuto from the ground. The two of us looked at one another as Shinji zapped into place. I narrowed my eyes gesturing for her to take over the explanation. She did so, as we formed into a loose triangle.

 _Kumo?_

 _Yes, child?_

 _It really fucking hurts._

 _All wounds take time to heal._

"Ya alright there?" Shinji pulled me up from the double meaning behind Kumo's and mine words. In the amber light of his eyes, I found a bit of confidence. This is what made a third-seat, I guess. He really did exude that ability to lead. "Bit beat up?"

"Almost had my lungs run through."

"Just the lungs? You'll live." The dark joke didn't sound odd coming from him. He seemed like that type that would laugh in the sight of gore and death. All Shinigami had counter-measures to deal with pain like this. Some used a few tears, others sarcasm and wit, and others humor. Shinji did really look like the type to use humor with that damn smirk across his face.


	19. Chapter 18

"Che, this guy…. Ya doin' 'right, Moriko?" Shinji's accent seemed to get deeper as the fight continued to be drawn out.

Moriko was hissed and spitting as she clamped her hand around her thigh, which now held two large punctures in the skin. Her face had turned an ashen white, as she was already reeling from the blood loss. With a nod, she went about cut off parts of her hakama to create some sort of faux bandage around the wound.

"Where are the fuckin' reinforcements?" She muttered out. She used the anger to quickly tighten the knot, which probably hurt in its own way, so as the try and stop the bleeding. She looped it twice more before she stood up shakily. "Todo should have at least gotten in touch with Soul Society by now."

Between the three of us, staying grounded within the loose triangle that we had created, we had somehow found a way to stall the adjuchas. It wasn't without its cons. The three of us received more damage and we had very little way of counter-attacking. Between the adjuchas' ability to go invisible, using it kind of like a shunpo, its naturally quick movements, and our limitations – be they in skill or in openings – we were really losing out. The more time we spent trying to keep the adjuchas from injuring ourselves, the more time we spent growing tired.

"Isn't there something we could do?" I whispered. I could barely feel my arms anymore as I held onto Kumo. I found myself covered with more and more bruises and cuts. I think he may have even fractured a rib or two at this rate.

 _Do not start thinking like that Ayake-sama._

Shinji grunted out as he ducked over a slice to the head. I pounced over his hunched form as I took a downwards slash towards his head. As the Hollow ducked away from my sword Moriko sent a kido spell over the tops of our heads. There was a piercing duel-tone scream as he vanished again. Immediately, Shinji shifted to the spot I had been in and I took over his spot. Seems like we had finally gotten injury on the bastard.

"I mean can't we use our shikai? It might help. - He just took a hit."

"Go ahead… Mine ain't good fo' teams." Shinji breathed out as he scanned the tree line. Of the three of us he had the best perception of where the hollow was moving about.

"What about you Moriko?"

"Don't have it mastered yet." She tightened the knot again as it had come undone. When she was done, she peered over at me and continued, " 'sides I've been using kido. I'm running low on energy as it is."

 _Should I do that? What do you think Kumo?_

 _Long-distance might give the three of you more options._

 _But I don't have it mastered._

 _Is now the time to be picking at detail like that? You are in a dangerous situation._

"I think we should move." Shinji interrupted all of a sudden. His eyes seemed to have locked onto somewhere in the trees. "Seems Moriko got 'im pretty good with tha' last shot. He's been stayin' still fo' a while now."

"How do you propose we do that?" Moriko shifted again, making it very obvious that she wasn't in good condition to walk. However, I think she was thinking about how we could move and defend ourselves at the same time. The risk factor would increase.

Shinji suddenly looked up. When I followed his gaze I was able to make out the outline of how the air was splitting around something that was moving towards us. It wasn't the first time that the hollow had attempted this, but it was the first time that Shinji had been caught unaware. It must have been the exhaustion getting to him. I pushed away, hearing the ground crunch and shudder as the hollow punctured the epicenter of where we had been.

"Moriko!" Shinji's voice rang out.

Her scream followed out seconds after I had heard Shinji. I untangled from my bent position and unearthed from a few rocks to see that the adjuchas had made a clear sweep at Moriko. She had been the one with the most limited amount of movements. The hollow had sunk his teeth into her stomach. And I was directly behind him, completely out of his eye line.

"Weave, Kumo." My sword slithered into position, and I flung my five nails towards the hollow. Piercing into his back, he dropped Moriko and then vanished again with another agnozing howl.

With a shudder the Shinji and I made our way over to the fallen girl. She was panting heavily, barely able to catch any breathes. Her eyes were straining to stay open through the pain. That monster had sunk his teeth all the way through, leaving blood and tissue overflowing through the ring of dents. Moriko shuddered once, and then again, before laying her head back and trying to breathe again.

Not being able to grab her with my hands, I leaned over as Shinji tried to get the girl to relax. There was no way that either of us could fix the wound. It would not only take too long. It was also something only someone from squad four could take care of like the injury done to my chest. As Shinji made due with creating another pair of faux bandages, I turned around and kept an eye out from that adjuchas.

All the while, I breathed out in my head for the end of this situation. There was a tiny clink as my nails clattered together. I had never noticed it before but the material of them was hardened. I had thought it was just the arm guards that came up my wrists that were that way. They weren't hard like a sword, since they had the ability to stretch, shrink, warp, and curve. Hard in the way like a steaming ore, that was ready to bend and be built up again under the master blacksmith's hammer.

 _There!_

I shot them forward again as I saw the flare in the adjuchas' reiatsu. Shinji was still busy so I was doing my best to keep the hollow far off. When the monster dodge, I continued to follow its movements as I tracked my nails horizontally across the distance. I bent my fingers as he tried to come running forward, letting the nails turn around like a snake slithering in the fields. He made a jump for the air, so I sent my left hand shooting out in hopes of catching him. He vanished again, and I retracted the nails back to my side.

"Doin' pretty good." Shinji took up position on the other side. Moriko was limp, so I knew that she had fallen unconscious from the pain. It was probably for the best.

"I haven't mastered my shikai either."

"Don't matta'. Ya kept 'im off so that I could patch 'er up."

What happened next was a bit of blur. The adjuchas had come spinning out from my right hand side. His pincers tore into my side as he came and hovered over me. I had managed somehow to wrap the talons that were my nails all along his pincer, to keep it from wedging into me further. I had one deep hole in my torso, which was one more than enough.

His mouth had opened up to try and bite down on me. A hollow's breath doesn't smell like anything. I had never smelled blankness before. Everything that a soul emits has a smell; nice or not, we all had one. I hadn't noticed but a hollow doesn't actually smell of anything. But up close, its' reiatsu burns the fine hairs in your nose. It makes you bleary eyed from the tears, like when you cut an onion. It leaves no actual effects, souls breath in reiatsu and reishi every single day, but it tingles the memory and creates a little section where it can reside and stay.

Staring down into the black hole that was his mouth, I flashed back to that first memory of my time in the snow. I hadn't actually seen it yet this year. And then that vision was gone. The adjuchas disintegrated, in a shower of dust, right before me. My nails unwound and then clattered against my chest.

Turning my head over I could make out Shinji who had his hand raised. His eyes had narrowed to tiny slits and there was a determined set in his mouth. Smoke rose from the tips of his hand, his sword recklessly abandoned at the ground by his feet.

After having been outside for so long, the ceiling felt bland and the fake light was hurting my eyes. Even though the light hurt, I couldn't shut my eyes. It was too soon to fade into that blackness. I had been left on a gurney in the hall, as the nurses saw Moriko's condition to be much worse than mine, since I at least didn't get punctured all the way through. Someone was supposed to come through and to heal the injuries, but nobody had yet. My lungs pulsed as I took in a long drag of breath and then let it out.

 _You are okay, Ayake-sama._

I couldn't really find any words to say to my spirit. I felt like I was falling through the gurney as he kept talking to me. I felt the way that the blood suddenly swept from my brain. My body went rampant; quivering and twitching as it tossed away the extra adrenaline. I spluttered slightly, but feeling the way that my stomach was twisting up I indistinctly made off in some direction. I made it about two steps before I got lucky and found a bucket to use as I puked.

I placed my hand out on the wall. There was no support to be given, as my arm still quivered. I felt boneless. Kind of like a slug as I tried to find some strength in me to reposition from my crouching double-u slouch. I heaped up another serving of my stomach, even though there was nothing there in the first place.

I didn't notice until the last of my stomach was emptied out, but it had become impossible to breathe through my nose. I took a few sniffs to find it clogged up. My cheeks were becoming damp and then stiffening as the tears ran down my face. They just kept pouring. I fisted my hand, digging it into the cold stone, before knocking my forehead there as well. After several knocks, my hand came flopping down by my side, leaving only with my head as a support for my weight with the rest of my dangling somewhere in oblivion.

I took a few shaky breathes, lighting up a passage in my vision. My eyes had fallen closed, and now, as I breathed, I opened them back up again. My heart felt crunched and shriveled up in my chest, but it was somehow still pulsating there. I sniffled a few times, and then began to wipe at the dried tears and at my mouth. As I stood up, I was greeted by a couple of nurses. They didn't make any single comment other than lying me back down so that they could treat my wounds.

I left after that, although I had been offered to stay for as long as I liked. It was a slower day at squad four so they had more than enough beds if I wanted to sleep there. I figured after getting sick from watching the ceiling, it was better if I just left all together. I let my feet guide me to wherever they wanted, when I found myself walking up to the front gates of the thirteenth division. I had been thinking about going back, to sleep as the nurses had suggested, but I hadn't thought my feet would lead me here.

I think I radiated an aura or something. No one had bothered to greet me as I entered, merely sending me a few passing looks and quick "hellos" before they went on their way. Maybe they had heard everything, and they were staying out of my way. Or maybe they hadn't and they just thought I was tired. Or maybe it was the fact that they just didn't care enough.

 _Ayake-sama, you-_

 _Shut up, Kumo._

As I trailed through the main courtyard, through the sounds of the kitchen and the words that were uttered in conversations that I could barely make out, I floundered. My head had come down as I stared at my feet, so I looked up. Off to my left I saw the two captains, as they usually were, sat on the veranda. Someone else had given them tea today.

 _You should-_

 _Didn't I tell you to shut up?_

 _Ayake-sama_

I closed the barrier in my mind as tightly as I could. The two captains weren't talking. They were watching me, as I watched them from a distance. They made no gestures, said no words, and showing no facial reactions. They sat, like two puppets, waiting to see what the puppeteer would do. But they had got me like a jewel catches the eye of a window-shopper and I became the fish now dangling at the end of the fishing line as the vendor gave me a bargain deal so long as I went over and looked. Slowly, I consciously moved over to them. Every muscle straining beneath me in a way that I had never been so apparent of.

"Ukitake-taicho." I bowed slightly, my two hands coming together in front. My skin felt odd at my touch. Had these hands always been so dry and flaky? I repeated the gesture to the other side. "Kyoraku-taicho."

Just when I was going to start thinking they wouldn't say a word, Ukitake-taicho spoke out, "we went to the fourth to check on you, but they told us you had already left…. I'm glad you're alright."

Had I been gone that long? I only remembered going from the fourth division to here. I had taken the same route that would lead me around each barracks. I could place every single stone that I had walked on. Had I walked just on stone? I could remember also walking through some woods. The sun was still up, and it was just the end of lunch. I had left only a few moments ago, hadn't I? I furrowed my brows and touched my head. Where was my memory? What had happened to time?

"Don't worry, Yuko-chan." Kyoraku-taicho's voice was warm and soft. He grasped onto my hand and tugged me slightly forward. "Come have some tea."

I cradled the cup between my two hands once he had finished. He had done a very good job. Not a single drop had been spilt over the side. I stared down at the cup, filled with tea, looking at the reflection of myself. There was a tiny plop, as I could make out the shadow of the tear falling into the water just before it disappeared. He hadn't missed a single drop. And I had, hadn't I?

I nursed the tea, until it had become cold. Then I drank it anyway because my mouth had become sand paper and I couldn't get rid of skin that had been rubbed raw. My fingers slowly dug into the glass, until my knuckles burned white. They hadn't spoken a single word during my time with them. Or perhaps they had?

Suddenly the cup was taken from my hands. I could barely process the moment before I was taken up into some arms. As I was jostled, Kyoraku-taicho's face flashed before my view. My eyes shuddered down to Ukitake-taicho, who gave me something of a smile. There was something else laying behind those green eyes and that whited smile, but both had hardened over and steeled. He then nodded to my capture, solidifying whatever deal they had agreed upon.

The world blurred around me, having never been carried in a flash-step before, so I closed my eyes had blocked it out. Even as the momentum stopped, I left them closed until I could breath properly. There was rustling going on around me, and then the large body of heat moved away slightly, as I felt the earth beneath me again.

When the first gasp of air touched my lungs, my eyes fluttered open and my head flickered on. I looked around at the tiniest of clearings in the forest. The light came through the overgrowth in small patches, and left dark shadows in most of the area. There were the faint hints of dew, even though all of the water should have evaporated by now. The air clung only to the scents of nature, as if little to no one was ever hear. Except for that smell man that sat beside him. I looked down at the pink kimono that he had wrapped around my shoulders. Perhaps, it had come from that instead.

I lifted my eyes finally to look over at him. He had already leaned back, arms tucked beneath his head, and hat over his eyes. There was neither a frown nor a smile upon his face. Just a lake of calmness, as he continued breathing.

I shuffled and drew the haori up and around not only my shoulders but also my knees, which I brought up to my chest. I snuggled into a tight pink ball, resting my face into my knees to complete the circle. It was hard to breathe like that, with my chest compressed and no air really flowing in or out, but I managed. I managed until the heat got to my face, and I poked my eyes and nose over the ledge of my knees and breathed some more.


	20. Chapter 19

"Yo." I turned abruptly to face the voice. Shinji was stalking up, hands in folded into the sides of his hakama. "Ya captain told me you'd be out 'ere."

I had been living in the training grounds, meshing into the hoard of other officers. Both Kisuke and Yoruichi had come by to check on me several times, asking me to train with them, but I gave them excuses. I could easily pick up Kumo and unseal him to train on my own, but to stand there in front of someone to duel let me standing at the sight of blood stained teeth. The two seemed to have been warned off by my constant refusals.

"Are you here for a reason?"

"Jus' wanted ta see how ya were." His eyes narrowed as he took in my form. I stood perpendicular to him and I made no signs of moving. "Ya look like ya could do wit' some sleep."

My eyes rolled on their own accord, before I turned back to facing the small matches of hakuda that were going on. "And you need to start speaking properly."

"Ain't nothin' wrong wit' how I talk."

I spied at him from the corner of my eye as he came and stood directly next to me. I got a good glimpse of the narrowness of his face and the way that his mouth seemed to be perpetually open, as I could see his teeth. I turned back to the match, and gave out a few pointers when the loser had come up for some comments. Another match started without a word being spoken between the two of us. And then another.

"It killed a student." The words fell like dumb-bells through the air; hard, heavy, and without any resistance.

"I know." He sighed out, still watching like I was. He didn't change his position, or grow any tenser. He stayed positioned like a statue. "I heard all 'bout it in the reports."

I nodded, and slinked my eyes away from his frame. His eyes punctured a few holes into my face, before they slithered away again. "Ya don't need ta feel guilty."

"I could have done more."

"And gotten ya-self killed? Nah - Stop frettin' we got the monster that killed 'er."

"How can you say it like that?" I gestured frantically as I spun to face him. "She was a soul. She had a family…. She had a life."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that there was reason to save her…. And to mourn her!"

"Calm down." My eyes widened as I felt Kyoraku-taicho's hand fall down onto my shoulder. "Your reiatsu's flaring and its scaring the others."

I brushed his hand away quickly, spitting like a cat for being petting at an unwanted time. The whole group of Shinigami had backed up several feet, pushing the match and its spectating students away from our spat. They did their best to try and stay oblivious to the whole thing, maintaining the cover of continuing training, but more than a few were taking looks back over their shoulders at us. Once they caught my gaze, they turned whipped back around and locked in to the match.

"What are you doing here, Kyoraku-taicho?" I muttered out, as I tried to move along from the topic that he very obviously had been preparing for. It was written all over his face.

"It's tea time. – But I saw you and was drawn in." I could barely recall the man that had taken me to the depths of the forest, just to leave us to bask in common solitude. The look he had then did not match the wide grin that was spreading across his face. "It's been so long since I've gotten to see you my lovely Yuko-chan."

I sunk away from his attempt at capturing me into his arms quickly. Another hiss escaped my lips. It was one thing to do this around the thirteenth division, were the other officers understood how unofficial the captain acted. It was another to do this in front of someone from a different squad, who had probably never dealt with Kyoraku-taicho and his unprofessional behavior. Rumors did not do him justice, because they man wasn't just a flirt but an extremely touchy one.

Shinji only watched the spectacle with a thin eye. There was a tiny twitch of his lips, as I flared up like a cat and swatted at the captain's groping hands, but that was all. Then, his face fell into a deadpan, and he breathed out in a sigh. My body felt rigid as I looked over at him. His eyes were large again, and his mouth perfectly straight with his lips slightly opened to show his teeth. He was looking at nothing in particular; giving the illusion that he had fallen into a daydream.

"And there goes my first love~."

Kyoraku-taicho took the opportunity, to grab me up by the waist and bring me to snuggle up against him. His attention was on the younger officer enough that he wasn't trying to rub his cheek into my hair. His laughter jostled even me, as he considered Shinji's words.

"She has a way of doing that, doesn't she?"

"Hm?" Shinji broke out, his eyes dancing as he looked to the older captain.

I groaned, wanting to bury myself in the sand. They were going to start tag teaming me now. I could imagine the two of them going off left and right about how I had stolen their hearts from them. It'd never end. This was one of the worst combination of people I could have ever be associated with.

Kyoraku continued just as I predicted. "She stole my heart too."

"Ya don't get ta say that when yer huggin' the life outta 'er."

"If I released her, she'd never come back."

Shinji's head flopped up and down sagely. "I get it."

It was a painful day. I had been trapped inside this whole time doing paperwork. Several of the upper seats were gone on their own missions, or had a days off that they had saved up, so the papers had piled up. It was like some sort of tantrum for being left behind in the negligence of my peers, that I had to somehow sort out. Me, and a few other seats. However, it meant being trapped in the confines of a room, hunched over a table, and reading and signing away on papers. I didn't even know if I was authorized to be signing some of this stuff.

 _Is this not kind of like your work in the brothel, Ayake-sama?_

 _Hm?_

 _You are working on the finances, yes?_

 _…_ _I see what you're getting at. Yeah – I guess it's similar._

I had been working through sheets of paper, plugging through numbers to make sure they added up correctly, and accounting for the spending of the squad. Between the amount of payments that needed to be issued to the officers, bills ordering for money due to damages caused in the human world or in Seireitei, and money that needed to be used to maintain the squad, my head was starting to thrum from all the numbers. It was actually the only type of paperwork that I liked doing. I hated filing out reports, and doing the more legal papers. I could really manage the numbers and all the accounts. It was just the amount.

"Ayake." Fourth-seat Chichebe was one of the few higher ranks that was stuck in doors with me. The rest being those of us seated under fifth seat. He held out a few papers for me. "You mind running over to the eighth to hand those over."

I stared down at the balance sheet, quickly noting in the last number so that I could pick up on a new page when I returned. "No problem."

"Take a bit of break while you're at it…. You've been here longer than most of us." He turned around with a flourish that was purely his and made his way back to his desk.

 _A break does sound good._

 _Yes…. Though the weather seems to be cooling down._

 _We'll get to see the snow in a couple of months._

 _I still don't understand your fascination with the white dust. It's cold._

 _I think it's because it reminds me of my human life. It's the only memory that I really have._

 _…_ _. You have a life here and now, that is more than enough, child._

I continued the walk over the eighth. Since I was technically on a break as well there was no need for me to rush, like I usually would have done. Now I could meander, swiping my hands across the white-washed walls. During moments like this, I really hated shoes. Having grown up in 62nd, I didn't get a pair until I had already gotten used to the hardness of my feet. When I finally received some, they were two sizes too big and built for a man. I opted out of wearing them whenever I could. I appreciate the sense of touch that I could get from my feet. Sometimes I thought they were more sensitive than my hands.

I flicked my fingers through some of the sheets as I came up closer. The majority of them appeared to be for the captain and for the lieutenant, though a few were for the higher-seats. I sighed, and grunted. I'd have to be dealing with Kyoraku-taicho again. I had been barely able to salvage myself out of the situation yesterday when he had randomly appeared during my training on the grounds.

 _At least, Shinji won't be there this time, Ayake-sama._

 _That silver-lining is too thin…. It'd be nice not to have either of them playing with me._

 _Don't think I haven't noticed how you liked being hugged._

My face flush immediately at the thought. Caresses were something I had long gotten a hold of, being able to keep my reaction even when fingers danced along my skin. Hugs, where rather new. Kisuke barely offered any, Yoruichi was a little too aggressive to dole out hugs, Ukitake-taicho simply was too fatherly, and Shinji had never attempted to touch me yet. Kyoraku-taicho was the only one I knew that tried to wrap his arms around me each time he saw me.

 _I have no idea what you're talking about, Kumo._

 _Of course~_

 _None, whatsoever._

 _I absolutely agree… I'll make sure to clarify my statement at a later date_.

I gained access to the building with ease and started my way forward. With a few quick stops at different desks on my way, I made my way through the hall towards the captain's office. Since Kyoraku-taicho was bad at getting his work done, the lieutenant's office had been scrapped to build a slightly larger room for the two. When I received permission to enter, I realized that Kyoraku-taicho was definitely not inside. He would have opened the door for me, to try and catch me off guard.

"Ayake Ichiyuko, ninth seat, division thirteen." I bowed low before I stood up and faced the lieutenant in the room. "I have some paperwork for the eighth division."

"Thanks."

The lieutenant before me was pretty. She looked like a young adult, with her face mellowed out to a cool expression and thinned in age. Her long hair was tied back into two braided pig tails, but she had fringe that swooped part of the right side, crossing slightly over her eye, to help frame her face. Her blue eyes, a shade off from aqua, were brought out by the red-framed oval glasses she wore.

It also made sense that she wore a rather flirty uniform. She wore the standard issue tops; she left the top bit undone a bit more so that a black camisole peeked through, with the badge on her around her left arm. However her hakama were shortened to appear like a skirt or very wide-brimmed shorts. The bottom of which only cut off just above her mid-thigh. It would make sense that the number one pervert of Seireitei would have a pretty woman to be his second in command.

I ducked over towards my side as I felt Kyoraku-taicho swoop in. My observational sensing skills were getting much better, since now I was able to tell when someone was coming in from somewhere behind me. As I twirled around, I made sure to take a few steps back, crossing my arms as I did so.

"Not today."

 _You old pervert._ Kumo letting go of more than a few snickers as I finished the sentence there. He hadn't stopped laughing up a storm since he had finished teasing me.

"Arre~ I was so certain I was going to capture such a beautiful creature." Kyoraku-taicho blinked down at his crossed arms that were holding nothing but himself. With a smile, he gave me his smiling leer. That look was really starting to annoy me. "Yuko-chan, what did I do to deserve you're visit?"

"Absolutely nothing. I just came to deliver some papers."

The man hummed as he turned over to his lieutenant. "Lisa-chan, you've met the adorable Yuko-chan…. Yuko-chan, my new lieutenant Lisa-chan."

The woman came up closer and inspected my face. If I stretched my imagination far enough, then I could basically impose Ayake Chiyo onto the look that she was giving me. I swallowed thickly, biting back at the revulsion that came up. As a hand came up to my features, I jolted away from it. The quick movement had me reeling for a bit, before I straightened myself. Clamping down on my teeth, I gave the lieutenant my best look. I wanted nothing to do with that type of woman ever again.

Lisa's face stayed the same throughout it all. The even tones of her faces never moving, not even as she pushed up her glasses and stated, "She's as cute as you mentioned."

 _What?_

 _Seems Kyoraku-taicho has been talking about you._

 _That's not what I meant…. I have a bad feeling about this._

The two of them had banded together and were looking down at me. Lisa with her stoic face perfectly intact, while Kyoraku-taicho was giving me a wide grin. His eyes were flickering dangerously in the light.

 _Bad feeling…. I see what you mean, Ayake-sama._

"Even when she gets dazed out like that, she's still so cute." Lisa pointed out, a finger coming towards my face.

"I know, I know." Kyoraku nodded along, still keenly observing me, even though Lisa had started to move back to her desk. "It's cuter when she gets all riled up."

 _It appears that they have the same type of personality._

 _Let's get out of here, Kumo._

"I'll be taking my leave now, Kyoraku-taicho, Lisa-fu—" my words ended abruptly as Kyoraku hoisted me over towards him. How did this happen?

I was spun out of the room. My head whirled as I felt us moving, and then I was plopped to the floor. When I came out of my daze, I recognized the little clearing that I had landed in. Kyoraku-taicho had sat down as well, when I turned back to him, and though he look calm, there was a dark edge coming through his eyes. The brown eyes, spiraling into a thick dark chocolate color, planted me right down to the forest floor. I didn't dare move under the scrutiny of his gaze. I couldn't perceive how someone like him called me dangerous, not when he looked at me like that; like he was going to shoot a spear right through my gut.

His voice echoed the transformation of his aura, coming out in a growled balm. "What exactly is going on, Yuko?"

He had never just used my name. It was not malice that clung to the two syllables of my name, but there was some sort of potent poison that left the words disintegrating. My head felt like it was turning 360 degrees, trying to take in all the information from the tight contours of his shoulders, the controlled breathes coming from his chest, to the way that his eyes stared at me like a menace to my nervous system. Here, before me, was a predator gleaming down at its prey.

"I…" I swallowed thickly, his eyes seeming to catch and watch as my throat bobbled. "I don't understand."

"Jushiro asked me to keep an eye on you since he's out sick at his estate. I don't feel like you're doing too well."

"I'm fine." I shifted off from my hands as I aimed to sit up straighter. I could only slouch when I peered back up at his face. "I've been training, and getting work done. I don't know what you mean."

I had gone back to working with Kisuke and Yoruichi. The first time, I had caught them just as they were about to enter the pit. Yoruichi grabbed me into a headlock, before throwing me in. Kisuke, in his exuberant state this time, was aiming to gloat about the newest installments in the training center he had added. He was getting closer and closer to the healing spring apparently.

I had even gone back on a few missions. They had grown to be a bit easier as none of them could mount up to the fear that I had faced with the adjuchas. I never came back with the same tension, or the clenched muscles as that time from the fourth squad.

I had even done a bunch of other odd jobs, like taking up shifts at the fourth squad in return for a few more lessons on kaido, or spending my free time with the squad. During breaks I would hang around with various sorts of people. I met with Shinji and Moriko several times after the event. I had gone done to that student's family to ask for their forgiveness, which was granted with tearful eyes.

I narrowed my eyes at the man in front of me. He had kept a steady watch down the bridge of his nose. I chopped out the words slowly, "why are you talking to me like that?"

"Didn't you ever ask yourself why Jushiro and I took a liking to you so quickly?" The way the hat shadowed his face only helped to the emphasis the sizzling analysis he was giving me, as he leaned just a bit closer. "You have a lot of potential. – We're watching out for you."

"There's no need to be cautious, captain. I haven't done anything to issue such concern."

My hands fisted into balls as he uttered out, "captaincy."

"Pardon?"

"You're goal is to become a captain, isn't it?" My eyes grew larger as he stared at him. Only Kisuke new that, that was my true goal; knowing that I would be disappointed if I just stayed down at a lower-rank. "I've never seen anyone go about it with such much rapture before. I wonder what keeps you going….. Do you think it'll answer questions for you?"

My heart plummeted into my stomach and began to fizzle. I barely recognized the echoes of my own breathe as they left some sort of cavity in my chest. Kyoraku's eyes gleamed, shining over as he sank his fangs right into the jugular. I wanted to run, but my legs quivered. I forced my eyes down to the grass below, trying to gain some grasp over my own body.

"How?"

"Because you haven't figured out how to mask that reiatsu of yours….It's scattered all over the place." I was surprised he had even heard what I said. His voice changed, probably because of my whisper, lowering the tone to a softer vibration. "Your demeanor isn't helping you out either. You've got a good mask, but it's not perfected yet."

I picked at the grass in front of me for a few moments. When had he developed the ability to read me like that? Never mind Kisuke or even Shinji at this rate. I'd have to watch my back for the captain that was always clinging from the shadows; hiding behind his little games and flirts. I clenched the blades, tearing a few up from the ground. Kyoraku-taicho was the real dangerous person.

"Yare~," he sighed out and took my hand away from the grass. His hand led my own until I was coming forward onto my knees. "You're so high strung right now. - Why don't you just tell me what's on your mind?"

I looked up at him from this position to see that his soft smile had come back. His hand replaced the cold from his voice with warmth. "Does that even help?"

"Of course." He slide his pink kimono off and around my shoulders before dragging me so that I sat by his side. Almost instantly he fell back into a flop, with his hands behind the back of his head. "It's always good to use words."

Slowly, I came to lay right next to him. Curling up into a little ball on my side, I watched his chest rise and fall for a few moments. He had fallen into a trance-like state, lulled into it by his breathing, and I was following just beats after. "Why did I live?


	21. Chapter 20

Time was a strange thing. In the Soul Society you can never tell time by the way people age. You couldn't really tell by seasons either, since sometimes they were longer or shorter than expected. You could try to keep track of it with a calendar, but a year could feel like a day, and a moment could feel like a hundred years. I decided that time was this way because of its inexplicable link to memory. Since as a rational begin we could not remember everything, time felt both slow and fast. Slow in the moments when we were forming a concrete memory of the events, and fast when we go about our routines passing by days, months, and years without much notice.

The years of my growth at the thirteenth division, were marked by the good, the bad, the sad, the angry, the frustrating, the stressing, and the happy. I couldn't flip through my memory like a photo album and point out each moment, or go through a line-by-line narration of all my time spent there. Memories conglomerated into one. A huge mass in your head that said 'yes, something did happen', but 'no, you can't recall'; like that first year back in district 62. There were a few moments, however, that stood out about the rest, like a day of celebration after a month of sadness.

The first being the sudden catastrophe of landing in squad four for three weeks. I had stupidly gone to the eleventh division to train. Kumo was a battle-type zanpakuto, and I had decided that the only way to come to fully understand his shikai frame was the battle non-stop until I simply understood. I was berated, called selfish, and beaten up for my behavior by my collegues and friends. Kisuke forced a promise out of me that I would never become a battle-hard idiot again.

The second was the day I felt Kumo slip through my veins and become my actual zanpakuto. I had always thought that he was mine, and I was his. We worked together, fought together, dreamed together, and relaxed together. He existed because of me, but he was mine so therefore I existed because of him, as well. I had never thought that mastering my shikai would feel like a consummation. In return for the hard work, I was bumped right up from 5th to 3rd seat.

The third was the day and the few proceeding encounters I had with Shiba Kaien. There had been plenty of talk about him, coming from a noble family and passing the academy in two years. Ukitake-taicho was the one that won the man's favor, and in turn he was given a seat beneath me before I even had the chance to meet him.

He was acted nothing like a noble. I originally, observing from a distance away, thought that it had been because of his youth. He appeared to be no more than maybe eighteen human years old, with dark unkempt hair and large greenish-blue eyes. He seemed to hold his mouth in a perpetual tight-lipped pucker when he was doing his paperwork, but it was easy to get him to smile. He was a bit gangly in the way teenagers often were, needing more time to grow into his body and muscle tone.

Ukitake-taicho had noticed my reluctance to interact with the boy after our first meeting, but I maintained that I was just quietly observing the new recruit and that we did, in fact, interact. In a huff the taicho had forced me out onto a mission with him, straight into the heart of Karakura Town when he had only been here a month. He was a bit brazen, although he thought enough with his head to counterattack the rough movements he made. His analytical skills needed a bit of work, and he was still shaky with his shikai, but he had done well.

When we got back there was no difference in the way we acted. When we passed in the halls we were polite, when we dined with others and happened to be at the same table we made civil conversation, and always around the taicho we were friendly acquaintances. During training sessions, I would lead him and various others through different tactics, and give out feedback. During other working times, we never made conversation but the silence was not awkward. We had our own social circles, and even though sometimes they overlapped, we were not very close.

I figured it was because I was a higher-rank and he was my subordinate. The idea of the distance made me a bit sad, especially when I realized that there was a similar gap with almost everyone in the squad barring a few that had really become close friends. The leader is not chosen because it can be of the people. They are chosen to represent the people; able to claim only a fraction of understanding about them to understand their woes and complaints. It the power that we appreciate in them, not necessarily the personaility.

"Yuko-chan~" Kyoraku-taicho practically sang out as he came dancing over to me. I had gotten tasked with giving the two tea again, as had become the ritual between the three of us. "Where have you been, lovely?"

"Would you stop that Kyoraku-taicho?" I put my hand into his face and pushed him away softly so I didn't upset the tray. He followed after me, edging on my heels and then taking a seat on the veranda as I set about pouring the tea. "Ukitake-taicho there's some new papers left in your office."

"Are there?" The snowy-haired man let out a sigh. He had come back from his estate just three days ago, but he was still taking it easy with a lot of breaks in between and asking us to administer some of his medicine into the tea we prepared for him. "I'm falling behind at this rate."

My relationship with the two captains had stayed pretty much the same. Ukitake-taicho took me a bit further into his care, mentoring me more closely and at times asking me from help on certain matters. As his third seat, it was natural that the bond would grow closer but I had never expected the relationship to take a more personal turn, with a deeply sowed amount of trust and respect flowing both ways. It was a warm sensation when Ukitake-taicho trusted me so deeply with something he valued.

Kyoraku-taicho, on the other hand, grew none less passionate in his endeavors to flirt and stroke whatever reaction he wanted from me. After I had grown wary of his underlying nature, it had taken some time to rid myself of the fear that I felt. It annoyed me to no end that this was the man that had seen through my attempts. I outgrew the feeling of vulnerability, or more likely grew used to it, seeing as he was a never-ending thorn in my side. He had edged too deep in for me to pull out, anyway, so I gave up. I retaliated only to his flirtations and took him up on opportunities when I could actually get him to speak properly with me.

"You know Kaien said something rather interesting to me the other day." Ukitake always began sentences about Kaien like that; always trying to prickle my attention on the subject matter.

"Yes, Ukitake-taicho?"

He smiled in victory, not even bothering to note my narrowed eyes. Kyoraku-taicho, however, chuckled at it. Both captains knew that I had handed the win over easily. "He made a very interesting remark."

"You're repeating yourself, taicho."

"Am I? - He asked me why you were only my third seat, and not my fukutaicho."

I blinked several times. It wasn't unknown that Kaien was a pretty laid-back individual and said whatever was on his mind. It was actually the reason I came to when I told my friends that he acted nothing like a noble. Unlike Yoruichi who carried that sensibility on her shoulders though acted nonchalant, and Kyoraku-taicho who tried to mask it completely, Kaien's nature was a bit different.

He was abrupt, bordering a bit of rude, aggressive, and a bit rash. That nature allowed him to treat everyone around him at the same level, no matter the circumstances of their upbringing. He never snubbed, and only critiqued when he could find something wrong or was giving out help. Yoruichi told me it probably came from the fact that he came from a blossoming noble house that had always teetered between high and low regards. Though still well known, and currently very stable, the family had maintained a very strong sense of individual social freedoms.

"Did he?"

"Hm." The captain's voice jingled as he took a sip of tea. He was getting far too much amusement by taunting me with such words. "When I asked why he told me he thought you ran the barracks better than the actual fuku-taicho."

"Oh?"

"He listed a number of things: your ability to train others, your ability to manage your time so that you got all your work done, your ability to lead and work well the others, your fighting talents…. He's not wrong. You've become a very good standard for other Shinigami to look up to."

 _"_ _Kaien, this is our third-seat Ayake Ichiyuko." I bowed slightly as the captain ended the introductions on me. Since the new recruit was coming in straight to the tenth seat he was getting specifically introduced to all of us, unlike the others who would have to do it on their own time._

 _"_ _Nice to meet you, Ayake-san," he said with his own bow following._

 _"_ _I thought it would be best if Yuko-chan took you on the rest of the tour. That way you can get to know one of your leading officers."_

 _Ukitake-taicho had given me the message earlier today, but it looked like Kaien hadn't known about it. He raised his head in slight alarm, looking at the captain to try and get a reading on him. Not having a lot of time to waste, I had a mission to prepare for later this evening, I gathered up his shihakusho in my hand and began to tug him after me. He was already taller than me, but I had gotten used to dragging people along. He stumbled quite a few times trying to gain his balance again, before I slipped my hand back to my side and let him walk on his own._

 _"_ _I apologize. I'm on a bit of a schedule, you see." I looked over my shoulder at the young man, who was nodding. There wasn't much to explain about how the barracks worked, only having to give him a few minor details, but it seemed that Ukitake-taicho had already taken care of everything important. "Anything you need to ask?"_

 _I had led him all the way around the main barracks, showed him the dining halls and the kitchen, and then toted him to the male sleeping barracks. He stayed only a step or two behind me the whole way, always keeping his eyes out on the environment rather than on me._

 _"_ _No, I think you covered everything."_

 _His shoulders had hunkered down, and there was a set in his face that I couldn't read completely. It was different then the sort of wide-eyed look he had been carrying before. This one had his eye narrowed a bit, and his bottom lip thrust forward. His fingers tapped a bit on the wood of the wall, before scrapping his fingernail along it. His gaze was far away from me, wandering far into the grass by our sides._

 _"_ _Are you nervous?"_

 _He looked startled at the question, whipping his head over towards me. His shoulders came down from there hunch and he rubbed at one. "I guess it's noticeable."_

 _"_ _A bit." I put my thumb and forefingers close together to show him the metaphorical distance. "Anything I can help with?"_

 _"_ _I didn't expect you to," he died down for a moment just looking at me. His eyebrow rose up, and then he was wearing that furrowed look again. "care?"_

 _"_ _Was that a question?" I muffled a small chuckle, causing a small blush to rise up on his cheeks. He looked away again towards the grass, with tiny spat of embarrassed fury. I swallowed it down, since I wasn't sure if he was the type to get embarrassed so easily. "Yeah. I've been told I've got a bit of a cold front."_

 _"_ _Oh… Well, it's just new, I guess."_

 _"_ _New?"_

 _"_ _The situation."_

 _Over Kaien's shoulder I noticed someone wave at me in greeting. I responded in kind, getting Kaien to shift to look at who I was addressing. The person didn't come over, merely continued on walking over to where I knew the laundry rooms were. Somewhere in the scheme of things, I had become pretty well liked in the squad; even depended upon. Not just because of my rank, but for who I was. I battled through the rumors at the academy and through the small whispers here at the division and ended up with a bit of a name. Somehow…_

 _"_ _It'll take some getting used to, but you're coming in with a bunch of other new recruits so you won't be alone."_

 _He shifted his footing. How he was looking up at me even though he was taller was something I would have to ask Kisuke later on, but that's exactly what he was doing. "My being here is a bit different…. I mean I'm a noble, and I only was at the academy for two years. Most of those guys were there six."_

 _"_ _I think the only question you need ask yourself is if you deserve to be here. If that answer is yes, then nothing those guys say will mean anything." I patted his shoulder to make sure that he was listening to me. His whole body felt like clay ready for carving beneath my fingers. "Eventually, all those differences will disappear and the only thing that'll be left is your ability to fight and to communicate."_

 _"_ _Alright. Those of you that are sticking around for hakuda practice take a breather. The rest of you should get back to your duties." I called out from my perch on the tree top. It was my favorite perch over the training grounds._

 _Since the fuku-taicho was out on another mission, I had been asked to watch and mediate over the practice trainings for the week. As a third-seat I was able to help out in trainings with all those below me now, but this one was for those ranked fifteen and above. I wasn't surprised by the avidness that Kaien seemed to participate with. He held a lot of dedication to honing his skills, but the humility was still there every single time._

 _It was the first time seeing him in a long while. I had been running back-to-back missions, and Kisuke was keeping me out of the division a lot with extra trainings. Kisuke had finally sprung into third seat, having been stuck in fourth for the longest time. Yoruichi was just moments away; her fingertips scrapping at the captaincy. I followed my eyes along as Kaien sat with a group of Shinigami. It seemed that after a month he had really come to make this place his home._

 _"_ _Time's up. Partner up."_

 _The other seats scrambled up and got ready, swinging out a few limbs and stretching as they partnered off. There was an even amount of numbers, so I wouldn't have to participate. As one pairing after another started off their matches, time passed on. I had to go down to the floor level so that I could dole out pointers in between and afterwards. It was the standard way of running the hakudo practices._

 _My eyes narrowed as they landed on the next pair that had entered: Shiba Kaien against Matsu Ryusuke. Maybe I been a bit too quick to say that Kaien had settled in. Ryusuke was really banging out tough blows, and he was using a whole bunch of fakes to try and get Kaien's guard to slip up. Between the two of them, Ryusuke definitely had the advantage with his stronger form and proclivity for the hakudo arts. Not to mention that he was an eighth seat. Kaien was a bit leaner, and he favored using zanjustu, though he was not a bad fighter._

 _ **Time to get involved, Ayake-sama?**_

 **** ** _I believe so._**

 _Kaien was slipping backwards having skidded awkwardly on the ground from a nearly disastrous punch. If it had hit him it probably would have gotten him a broken nose. Ryusuke was going for a kick to the chest, when I hopped in. Using the leg like a pole, I looped around it several times before landing on it in a crouch. Without stopping I pushed my two legs down, sending Ryusuke's leg to the ground. Still having some hanging time, I swung up my left foot, and sent a kick straight to his jaw which had him flung off his own feet and skidding to a stop a few feet away. I landed and looked over to the eighth seat that was picking himself up._

 _"_ _Why are you getting involved?"_

 _"_ _Thought I wouldn't notice, huh?" The man was already getting up to his feet, though he made no actions to move at me. In terms of hakuda, I was by far the most proficient in the whole squad. "What's with the rage? It's just a simple spar."_

 _"_ _I have n-"_

 _"_ _Don't want to talk? Alright, get going."_

 _Ryusuke blinked several times, before tearing a hole through the spectating group and disappearing. The boy had grown up in the outer districts. It wasn't hard to understand his rage, and the nobility class that he thought had it all. It was probably festering since he found out about Kaien's early graduation from the academy, deeming it unworthy privilege. It was merely unwarranted anger._

 _I sighed and placed my hands on my hips. The group shuddered as I turned back around. "Let this be known - I will not tolerate in any sense discriminatory behavior. Acting upon such stupidity with result in me kicking your ass straight to the fourth division."_

 _"_ _Ayake-san, I—"_

 _"_ _If you tell me you were able to handle it, Kaien, I'll show you how wrong you are." I gave him a pointed look that had him sinking back to the earth. He must have taking the initiative to stay on the ground when I had gotten involved. "I didn't do it for you. I did it because I disagreed with his motives."_

 _"_ _Motives?" I eyed the sort of dreamy gaze, as he whispered the words out to the wind._

 _"_ _Yeah. I've dealt with my own discrimination. I don't take well to people using that to veil whatever it is, be that ignorance, shame, or inability."_

 _I clapped my hands to single the return to the practice. The officers shuffled around so that Kaien would get in practice, even with the odd numbers. It just be too unfair if I got involved, although with the sudden absence I took time to pause matches in between to demonstrate better techniques and movements. Just to get their mind of things._

 _ **I'll have to tell Ukitake-taicho**_

 **** ** _Yes that would be a good idea._** _Kumo was the one that registered somewhere in my fleeting memory during those small two or three minutes the way that Kaien looked at me, had been similar to the way that I had once looked at Kisuke._

 _"_ _Yo."_

 _Shinji's normally blank face appeared, with his teeth just visible from the parting in his mouth. For once his hair was tied up in a pony-tail, minus to the two long strands that framed the sides of his face which went down to where his bellybutton would have been. His fringe was ruffled slightly from its normal straight composition._

 _I raised an eyebrow, when I noticed that he was walking right beside Yadomaru Lisa. She greeted me with a quick nod before proceeding off in the direction of her barracks. "Why were you with her?"_

 _"_ _Wha'?… ya jealous?"_

 _"_ _Don't say that with that sort of face." I responded, turning to his deadpan face. Kaien shifted by my side. He had been helping me to carry the exorbitant amount of paperwork that we had to dole out to other divisions._

 _The Gotei 13 had been changing its payment structure and it was causing a whole lot of problems. The transition had created a backlog of complaints and comments from various Shinigami all over the Seireitei. Between the two of us, we were carrying two high piles and that was just for our division._

 _Shinji's slow smirk came up on his face before he looked over at the papers curiously. "Accountin' papers?"_

 _"_ _You got it." I huffed, and gave the man an expectant look. He mimicked it, though he added his own exaggerated twist by using his forefinger to pull down on his bottom eyelid. "You going to answer my question?"_

 _"_ _So fiery… Jus' wha' I 'pected from ya…. But yeah, sure. I was just gettin' back from a meetin'." His shoulder shrugged up, before he touched the badge on his shoulder. It was the first time that I was noticing the lieutenant's badge on his arm._

 _I couldn't get my eyes off the Lily of the Valley outlined in the 5_ _th_ _division turquoise. It was a thin stalk of tiny bulb looking flowers. It stood out from the light brown color of the plate as well as the white strip that created an armband. My eyes slowly shifted over to the grinning man there. If he had walked tall as a third seat, he looked gigantic with the badge on his arm. He seemed to have gained a bit of puff in his chest from it._

 _"_ _Congratulations."_

 _"_ _Not needed." He waved his hand in front of his face, his eyes widening slightly. "Jus' means more work."_

 _I lifted up the papers in demonstration and slowly waved it beneath his nose. His eyes followed the leaning tower. "Mean like this?"_

 _"_ _Don't get me thinkin' 'bout that." He brought the heel of his hand up to his forehead some of his fingers poking cuts into the fringe that hung there. No wonder the fringe looked displaced. He must have been doing that a lot at the meeting. "I 'ate work like tha'."_

 _"_ _Why take the promotion then?"_

 _" '_ _Cause," his eyes drifted over the side as he considered his words, but then he just shrugged. I laughed at his reaction. It was so typical of him to respond that way, playing his cards to his chest when he didn't even know the answer. "What's wit' the laugh?"_

 _I stuck my tongue slightly, and took a risk at copying his accent. "Jus' 'cause."_

 _His face blanked for a moment before another smirk came about. His eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned in and doled out a remarkable impression of Kyoraku-taicho. "Careful now, Yuko-chan~~"_

 _"_ _Aish, I should never have gotten you two to meet."_

 _"_ _By the way - who's the chump wit' ya?"_

 _Kaien had stayed patient by my side, saying nothing as he stood off by the wall. He wasn't ever hard to notice, but very few people outside of the division ever bothered to talk to him. He looked up at the address and keyed back into the conversation. Shinji waved the guy over telling him not to go skulking in the shadows._

 _"_ _Shiba Kaien, relatively new recruit to the thirteenth." I supplied as Shinji took a good look at him._

 _"_ _Ya know somethin' Yuko… Leadin' really suits ya."_

 _I never got a chance to ask him what he meant. His head picked up suddenly and he reached out for the hell butterfly that was heading his way. Once he heard the message he gave a quick goodbye and the shunpoed away from us. It was so abrupt that the two of us stayed blinking for a moment before we continued on the way towards the first division._

 _Moments later Kaien sighed. When I raised an eyebrow at his reaction, he asked, "who was that?"_

 _"_ _Hirako Shinji. He's a weird guy but I trust him."_

 _"_ _Really? He doesn't look very reliable."_

 _I snickered at the notion. Between Shinji's waspy thin looks, to the way he drenched himself in his hair, and talked so casually, it wasn't a surprise. He kind of had a perpetually lazy look on his face, although he was fairly animated once he started talking. Probably didn't help that the man was actually lazy. He had dragged me half way across Seireitei to get out of doing paperwork, more than a dozen times in a span of a month. If he put even a quarter of the energy he used from escaping paperwork, into actually doing the work, he probably wouldn't be backlogged all the time._

 _"_ _How'd you meet him? You guys don't look like the type that would get along."_

 _I looked down at the papers. I guess I looked a bit more serious and high-strung than that guy. I never really felt that way. I more than enjoyed doing nothing some days, but I also really appreciated doing work at times. "Mission with the academy students. We got stuck fighting an adjuchas that that had slipped through a rip between the two worlds."_

 _"_ _Really?"_

 _I merely nodded, not needing any more words to describe the situation. Staying friends hadn't really been the plan, what with him playing into Kyoraku-taicho's flirting habits, but he picked up on my immense curiosity for about everything. The guy was obsessed with human world cultural inventions and seemed to be a well of information about them._

 _"_ _Say, Ayake-san?"_

 _"_ _Yuko, is fine Kaien."_

 _The boy cleared his throat and stated up again with a stronger voice. "Yuko-san, what do you think makes a good leader?"_

 _ **Huh? Never been asked this before.**_ _I peered over at my subordinates face. His eyes blazed, as they flickered between me and the corridor ahead of us. I cocked my head and tried to gather up my thoughts_

 **** ** _You're a leader now, Ayake-sama._**

 _I had asked this of Kyoraku-taicho once. It had started on a topic of justice; what that meant and who had it. It had someone switched over to the topic of leadership, and how that applied to the Gotei 13, with each division having a different method and approach to leading and fighting. Kyoraku-taicho had been a begrudgingly good person to have those conversations with. He could think on multiple different levels about those sorts of topics._

 _"_ _That's a difficult question," I responded, sighing. The boy made no conscious move to acknowledge my small mutter. I turned down to the stones of white that we walked on. "The Gotei 13 has one answer."_

 _"_ _That would be?"_

 _"_ _A good leader is one that can command his subordinates to follow through with orders from the higher ups."_

 _"_ _What do you think about it?"_

 _"_ _I told you… It's complicated- I guess, simply… A good leader is not just someone who gets support, but wins it over with respect and hard-work. Who can pull and push, and can admonish and sympathize…" I let out a sigh, wanting to scratch at my head. He really had to ask this question when I wasn't prepared. "I don't really know what I'm talking about. I think I'm still finding my answer.. - Kyoraku-taicho once told me that a captain is not someone that waits for the answers, but the one that creates them."_

 _We continued the walk in silence. The wind picked up and sunk between us. A rainfall was going to be coming in the next few days. I could feel that humid stickiness in the atmosphere. We made it to the first division and back without any problems._

 _"_ _Why did you ask that anyway? Caught me off guard with it."_

 _"_ _Oh?" He kicked at something invisible to my eyes. His hands came up and wrangled at his hair. "I was just thinking about what Hirako-fuku-taicho said, and a couple of things going around the barracks."_

 _"_ _Rumors?"_

 _The last time that had happened, it had been about a girl getting pregnant and asking for a leave of absence. The man was unknown though it had been rumored to be the fuku-taicho, even though he had been in a pretty serious relationship with another girl at the time. Very rarely were rumors a good thing._

 _"_ _It's nothing bad - Actually, it's the opposite." He fidgeted with his shihakusho and then finally came to a pleased end. Rubbing at the bridge of his nose, he continued, "people were complimenting you."_

 _ **That's a first.**_

 **** ** _Ayake-sama…_**

 **** ** _What? The last time I got rumors going it was about how I was a whore._**

"And what exactly did you tell him, Ukitake-taicho?"

The man in question shrugged innocently, flashing a look over his cup at his friend, before looking up at me. "That he should ask you that himself and… I told him that it wasn't my decision."


	22. Chapter 21

Ukitake-taicho's word fell into a hole where I had abandoned them, until the day that I found myself running to the captain's meeting. I rounded the bend several minutes before the ceremony had finished and stood outside. Deciding that it probably wasn't a good idea to wait right by the doors, I stood in the small hall by the side, unable to sit as I danced on my feet.

I shrunk back as the doors opened up and the captains began to exit swiftly. I barely recognized any of them as they slowly pilfered out. Shinji stepped through, giving me a twerk of his eyebrow before following after his captain. I could make out Ukitake-taicho's hair swinging right by the entrance so I decided I had a good shot at getting away with being there. I rounded up and briefly gained his attention by touching his haori sleeve.

"What are you doing here, Yuko-chan? Is everything okay at the division?"

"What? - Everything's fine. I heard about the promotion."

My eyes trailed away and settled on the form of my good friend. In ritual-esque fashion, she had chopped off her longer hair, although it had only fallen to her shoulders, to signify the new beginning of her start as captain. The new bob like cut, suited her sharp features and helped emphasize the strong look that she had put on. The look that I usually saw when she was dealing with nobility business. She was dressed in hakama pants, and a shihakusho top that swooped down around her back. It showed her figure, although a little too much of it, but she wouldn't be messed with from the way it also showed off her muscular figure; particularly with how the long gloves sunk around the lean muscle.

Yoruichi's gold eye clung down on my frame and her wide smirk came about. It had been a bit since I had seen her. She had disappeared for a few months to figure out her training. She waved her hand and beckoned me, which I followed without second thought. The white haori, at the very least, gave her a bit more modesty, even though everything was visible on the sides.

"Yuko."

"Shihoin-taicho." I added to the tease with a deep bow. Just like how we met, she stuffed her hand to my head, pushing me down before bringing me up by my strands. Pushing back a few tears as I gripped to her hand, I said, "it was a joke, you silly neko."

"I know." Her hand rubbed down on the spot as she looked at me. "How've you been?"

"Good."

"Wait, you guys are acquainted?" Ukitake-taicho came out from the back and wandered closer. Kyoraku-taicho was also peering curiously over the man's shoulder.

Yoruichi nodded quickly and snuggled me deep to her bosom using her elbow. "I've known her since the academy. Jealous?"

"Very," Kyoraku-taicho immediately responded. From the smallest corner of my eye I could just make out the way that he was staring at the way my head was positioned. Lisa was standing a bit further afield but she was keenly paying attention to the conversation, and had nodded in agreement.

 _Those perverts._

 _Calm down, Ayake-sama._

I tugged away and stepped over the fatherly-figure in the room. He placed a calming hand on my shoulder, smiling down at the red that had come to my face. Although I had thought I had outgrown this, used to Kyoraku-taicho's comments, it seemed adding Yoruichi added a new element. She wasn't the type to out rightly make comments like Kyoraku, but she loved to drag out her teasing.

"I see so this is the other friend you mentioned to me before." Right before my eyes he seemed to be finishing a puzzle piece, but as soon as the image was done he hid it away. I had no idea what he was connecting but knowing the captain, he probably wouldn't take too long to reveal it, if it had anything to do with me. He was always very straight forward with me. "If that's the case, then feel free to stop by at the thirteenth if you ever need assistance."

Two weeks later I was pulled from my training on the grounds and was taken to the private room with Ukitake-taicho. The private room was basically where the captain spent all of his time doing paper work. It was the quietest area of the division, positioned away from all the hustle of the rest of the barracks. It was also the only place that the captain conducted the more serious meetings, since, as the name suggested, it was the most private. Nothing left the room except for the people.

I stared blankly down at the paper. I had read and re-read it about four or five times now. There seemed to be something preventing me from creating the chemical reaction that would help me to process the words written down. After staring at it again, hoping for something to come to me, I put it down and looked up.

Ukitake-taicho was sat across from me. He eyes stayed firmly planted on me, with that same smile across his face. Only a few touches of concern were found in the way his eyes crinkled so that they looked slightly more round. He waited patiently for me to say something, sipping on his tea. What I would give to act as composed as he did in every situation. If I looked back, he never seemed to hold anything but a smile, and if there was ever a frown, it only came from a place of concern.

I pushing the paper over towards him, but he stopped it half way across the table. "What is this taicho?

"It's exactly what it states," he blocked the words out into four sections, giving emphasis to the parts of the sentence. It still wasn't really clicking. Seeing my expression, he continued, "I know it might be a shock but I think you should take the opportunity."

"Do you not want me here anymore, captain?"

"What? Of course not." He spluttered into his tea. The cup came down for the first time ever with a clatter. I watched as it sloshed over a bit, before turning up to the wide, mortified eyes of my captain. "What would ever give you that impression?"

"But you just gave me a shee-"

"It was asking for your transfer to the second division. Yes, I am aware of its content, Yuko-chan."

"If you haven't out rightly rejected it then that means you're considering transferring me."

"Listen." The words rang through the entire room, and I settled more firmly onto my legs. I hadn't even realized that I was rising, but Ukitake-taicho certainly had. His eyes acted like weights keeping me where I was. "The truth is I knew that this was coming."

"What?"

"I spoke with your friend, Urahara, the few times that he came to the division to train. He told me all about his goal."

I knew that Kisuke wanted to be with Yoruichi when they took over the second division. It was always those two pushing and pushing up the ladder, so that they could claim the top positions. Kisuke for his freedom, and Yoruichi for her pride. I knew that it was coming. With Yoruichi now in the captaincy, she would promote Kisuke up to vice-captain and they would reform the squad.

"I spoke to him about your zanpakuto. We agreed that you were actually much better suited for the second division." My head was spinning. When had this happened? Ukitake-taicho reaching across the small tray and grasped my shoulder so that I would stay with him. "He told me that they wanted you to transfer over once things had settled a bit."

"They never mentioned that to me. - It was always those two."

Ukitake-taicho smiled again, and patted my shoulder. Shifting the paper back over towards me, the heat in the private room had returned. "Think about it Yuko-chan. Your zanpakuto and your abilities are very well suited for the squad…. You'll be with your friends. I think you'll make good head way there."

I picked up the paper again and stared. They weren't direct transfer orders, but a permission letter sent ahead. If the captain gave permission then the official papers would arrive and I would be transferred. Some captains didn't even give a second glance at them, offering permission without a single thought to the subject it was entailed for. At least, Ukitake-taicho had very good, though debatable, points to make on the subject. I was frowning so hard that I felt it myself. What would I ever do at the second division?

"Don't look at it like that. Talk to me."

"I just don't understand. I worked so hard here. I've made it to third seat here…. Why do you think I'll be better there?" The words poured from me like the day that started our teacher-student relationship. I had gotten better at expressing myself before I end up wallowing like I had in those days.

The man nodded sagely. "You have done amazing work here, Yuko-chan. Making it to third seat is no small feat. As it is right now… You'll never progress up."

 _What is he saying?_

 _Ayake-sama, he's pointing out that you've plateaued. Have you not noticed?_

"But captain, I won't even fit in at second division. They're the special forces… Assassinations, and the like."

"That's why I said that technically you actually would. Think about it: your hakudo is the strongest here, your shunpo only just below that of Shihoin-taicho's, and your kido is clean. Plus, your shikai is a physical type. It's very useful for second division jobs."

"All my skills have been learnt with the thirteenth division in mind… I just—"

"Yuko-chan, there is no way you can become fuku-taicho here." The air in my chest caught, and it strained as it tried to break free. Ukitake-taicho poured out some tea as if he knew what was happening. Maybe he knew from the look of my face. "Those mottos that the division live by are to help with the selection process. They help initiate new soldiers into the ways that their division works, so as to cause unneeded injuries. All soldiers need something to live by, but few are capable of living up to it a hundred percent."

"But—"

"If you really don't want to go… of course I'll reject this." He grabbed the sheet and hung it between his thumb and his forefinger. "It'd be a shame. I think transferring around would probably only make you stronger as a person. - I think you're one of the few I've seen that has the potential to become a captain."

 _Ayake-sama…_

 _Why does he look so disappointed with me?_

 _I don't believe he's disappointed_

I had asked the captain to hold off on making a decision. He remarked with a cheerful tone, dripping in something else, telling me to take my time. I stuffed my face into my hands. I had been stuck in a bit of rut with training, but it wasn't something that I couldn't get past. Between Kisuke's almost brainlessly smart ideas, and the squad's routine I could climb my way from it. Everyone got stuck at some point.

 _Of course they do, Ayake-sama, the question is that they don't solve it be doing the same thing over and over again._

 _Oh? Then how in the world did those at the eleventh division progress?_

 _You are not one of the battle-heavy idiots, Ayake-sama. The requirements you must achieve to make captaincy in any other squad far succeed those of just battle strength._

 _I know that…_

 _In what way are you demonstrating that? You are rejecting a good opportunity._

 _When did going up the ranks become my dream, anyway?_

 _Don't deflect! - It has always been your dream. You just never wanted to say it out loud. You used to stay in the shadows._

I let out a triumphant sigh straight from my chest, and lay into the grass. I had stowed away into the clearing Kyoraku-taicho had shown me. It had become a habitual place when I needed a place to think and to get away from everyone. The only person that had ever found me here was the pervert captain himself. He teased me relentlessly about how I was seeking comfort from his subconsciously.

 _You are._

 _Shut up Kumo._

 _Tsk – How rude, Ayake-sama….. But it seems your thoughts have actually settled._

 _I guess so._

The next day I went up to Ukitake-taicho during his breakfast and told him to confirm my move. He had lowered his chopsticks down to his bowl, and rose to give me a gentle hug. There was a whisper of congratulations on my ears, which I couldn't understand but nodded to anyway. He pulled away abruptly and cheerfully agreed. He forced me to join him for breakfast then and there, and we talked about how the move would take place and as few closing up details that needed to occur. In total, I had until the end of week, with how quickly transfer papers ran through the system, before I would be moving over to the second division. I thought I would have more time and ended up rushing around the week.

The division wasn't told until the last two days. Kaien eyed me from his position in the meeting hall for the whole address, and then stuck close by. He was waiting to pull his guts up, before he confronted me. It was odd to seem him shuffling around in the back, when he was normally so aggressive in his approach.

"Would you stop sneaking around, boyo?"

Kaien pulled up from his desk and looked up towards me. "Boyo?"

"It slipped out. - It's something that was said a lot where I grew up."

I handed over a stack of papers, and then picking up a stack myself, I marched out. I slipped a look behind me to make sure he would follow when I didn't immediately hear the sound of his steps behind me. Kaien kind of paraded. He liked to let people know when he was coming up behind them, excusing it as that he didn't want someone swinging an arm or a sword at him for being caught off guard. I thought it was just because he liked being loud. The Shiba clan didn't seem to be at all the quiet sort of bunch, particularly when there was more than one of them together.

 _Distract me before I remember Kukkaku._ She had been a complete wreck to have around the division when she came to visit.

 _Kaien is looking at you again Ayake-sama._

I turned my gaze over towards him and caught his deviating eyes. "Why don't you just tell me what you've been trying to say for the past day and a half?"

"I didn't think you'd leave."

"What?" I burst out laughing. His eyes had furrowed to a close, scrunching so close it almost looked like he had a uni-brow. "It's not like I'm going into quarantine to die."

"The second division sees more action than the thirteenth."

"Yes. But I can handle it."

"You're that confident?" There was an unnerved sort of jingle in his tone, as he came to a stop.

I pivoted around and faced him. Even with the height discrepancy, there had never been an ounce of looking down at me. The question wasn't performed in such a way that doubted the position I held, but bordered more on a shock. Maybe he had assumed something different, and was realizing how off he had been.

"It's not about confidence. It's about hard-work, which I know I have." I recalled the look in Ukitake-taicho's face on that day in our first council. The wisdom that lay just on the cusp of his eyes and the wide-eyes I had turned towards them. "I'll carve out my way there."

Kaien nodded slowly. "I think I get it."

We resumed the walk and made quick work of dropping off papers to the various divisions. It became more pleasant as the worry was left back in the dust behind us. There wasn't much need for conversation, so most of the time we let our feet doing the talking. They scuffed and scraped against the ground. The stones gobbling at the Morse code that continued as we tapped away.

"You'll be okay in the squad, you know?" I pricked at his worry, following his head with my eyes. "You've got a good group of colleagues anyway. As you rise up the ladder, people will appreciate your attitude… You'll see."

"You're pretty good at reading people."

"Not really… I just happen to know people who are good at reading people." I shrugged and scratched at my shoulder. Between Kyoraku-taicho, Ukitake-taicho, Kisuke, Yoruichi, and Shinji, I seemed to be completely surrounded by people who just had really good intuition.

Remembering something, I swung my hand and smacked the boy over the top of his head. Crouching down he grabbed a hold of it and squatted in pain, huffing out a few breathes. "What was that for?"

"For acting like I was going to die."

"That wasn't what I meant at all, and you know it." Still in that squatted position, he pointed a finger at me. A few tears came to the corners of his eyes but his blinked them away as he continued rubbing. "You really didn't need to smack me."

"Listen, boyo. Everyone's got two lives." I gestured with placing two fingers, a standard victory sign, straight in his face. His eyes crossed over as he looked at them. I waved them around and then flicked on his nose gently. "The first is the life they live consciously, and the second is the life they leave behind in the memory of others."

"Isn't that a legacy?"

"Whatever you want to call it, doesn't matter. What matters is that even if I died, I'll live as long as you do. And as long as the rest of my friends do."

He was still peering up at me with a light I couldn't quite recognize on his face. His mouth fell open slightly and his breathing was slightly shallow, like in the way someone breathed when they had a chest cold. Slowly he rose to his feet, his standard issue grin coming to his face. A lightning bolt ran through his eyes, leaving behind some new residue.

"Hirako-fuku-taicho was really right… I completely agree with him."

"Hm?" I sung out. His words had been a bit muffled although there was nothing to block him from saying it clearly. "What'd Shinji say?"

Kaien walked away, his hand swinging as if he was going to say good bye. Just as I began to take my first step after him, he shouted back, "I'll see you back at the barracks, I need to go pick something up…. And Yuko-san – you should really consider using some more slang from your district. You feel a bit more like you that way."

 _What does that even mean?_

 _I'm sure it's nothing, Ayake-sama._

 _You little liar._


	23. Chapter 22

"Are you sure this is necessary Shihoin-sama?"

It wasn't often that the onmitsukido would ever question their chief commander. They had been led by fearless leaders of the Shihoin family for the past eighty years, and there had been very few falters and many spoils. However, this was a new chief commander, and while she had spent a great amount of time rising and training in their ranks, she was inexperienced in that role. Certainly the men and women dressed in black would follow through once she gave the order but this did give them a small bit of leeway. Particularly since she seemed so caught on proving herself to the court guards in the Gotei 13.

"I gave that order, didn't I?" Shihoin Yoruichi barked down. The guards had been questioning this order since she had passed it through two weeks ago. She had to start showing her demanding side, otherwise they would think she was just a push-over.

The few that had worked on her team from the get-go could hear the death that was falling in her voice. The chief commander was normally very laid back, but that didn't mean she didn't want her orders followed. Once everything was carried out to her liking, then everyone would be able to relax. Once things fell into place, then she'd stop walking around like she was about to kick someone through seven walls.

"She's not even been in the division for two weeks, Shihoin-sama."

Yoruichi breathed deeply through her nose and then stood from the chair. Her muscles were starting to creak from just sitting down. With feet barely on the floor, she came up to the kneeling man. He kept his head adamantly facing down, even as she came to cast a shadow of his figure. The wave of her reiatsu making her feel even taller.

"I know her potential better than you do…. More so, when I give an order, I don't expect to be quadruple-checked on the issue."

Urahara Kisuke watched from the sidelines. It had been the sixth time that the order had actually be brought up in topic, although it had been in pending for longer. He could also feel the frustration his friend seemed to be barely holding back. There was more than enough passive resistance coming from the Shinigami. Yoruichi didn't need to have it coming from the very people she had been learning to command in the first place.

The meeting was adjourned quickly after that. Kisuke turned to his long-time friend as she sat back down with a huff. She was mixing her drink furiously as she mumbled a few very short, precise curses under her breath. Kisuke rubbed at the back of his head, and fiddled with the ends of his tabi.

"I didn't expect this much resistance," he finally sounded.

"The onmitsukido are just puritans. I'm only the second Shihoin to join the two sides together, so they're being picky."

"Perhaps we should just get her settled in the second division for a bit and then attempt it again afterwards." He was only repeating what seemed to be the onmitsukido's position, but it felt like a loss as he sounded out each vowel.

Yoruichi sighed and laid her head back onto her shoulders. Swiveling it from side to side, she had also thought about doing that but it would leave her without a fuku-taicho for longer than she wanted. Her eyes narrowed down to slits as she eyed her fidgeting friend over the curves of her cheeks.

"If that was the case, I would have you be fuku-taicho and her as third seat…. But you're so adamant about rejecting the position."

"You know she's better at that then I am."

She released a loud sigh returning her head to its normal position. She pierced at the man in front of her. "That's only because you refuse to get out of your lab to actually try and learn some leadership skills."

Kisuke sighed and rubbed at his head again. Yoruichi had been telling him this for years, but he when he was confronted with actually managing more than a small squad of five he just grew anxious. It was making him worried just thinking about how he was going to have to start leading some of the black ops in mission. He didn't like the prospect of teaching and having the pressure of trying to develop others. He didn't mind it with his few close friends, because their problems were so specific, but the larger the group the more bland the solutions got.

"You know that the division could really use her."

"I know… between her skill set and her work ethic she'd really help out." Yoruichi pawed at the itch on her leg. It was really starting to cramp up, with the stress from the transition. "And you'd know she'd only tell us to do what is best for the squad if we brought the issue up with her."

Kisuke could already envision the look upon her face; her nose scrunching up and her eyes narrowing, before they would cement back to their usual position. "It's good that she isn't too prideful."

"Yeah." Yoruichi found her eyes tracing to look up towards the windows that looking out to the tops of the trees by the meeting hall. Yuko-chan had really been a good person to meet. She rounded out the pair in a way that Yoruichi hadn't expected when they first met. She had intrigued Kisuke and in that way intrigued her, but she hadn't envisioned this at all. "Yeah. It is."

I had been ordered to send off a few last messages to people who would worry. That had been the exact wording. I blinked several times at the empty spot where the messenger had stood and disappeared. It had definitely been a member of the onmitsukido, with all the black that he was wearing, which meant that I was heading somewhere that held a high risk. Yoruichi had given me a very bland foresight that this may happen, although it didn't really reveal the why.

I scribed out a letter to Ukitake-taicho, telling him that I wouldn't be coming around for a while and to pass along my well wishes to the rest of the division if they asked. Then, somewhat reluctantly, I wrote one for Kyoraku-taicho. He'd complain bitterly if I didn't send him something, and a frustrated Kyoraku was just something that I didn't want to deal with. Actually, his ended up being just a bit longer than the one to Ukitake-taicho.

I stared between the two different letters, scaling them as if they would weight differently from the one paper difference. Both of them had helped me significantly through my development, and I don't recall making a closer bond with one over the other. Yet somehow, I had written more for Kyoraku-taicho. I considered rewriting and scratching out a few of the lines, but each time I read over it, everything seemed important to include and it would lose its flow if I cut anything out. I sighed, closing both letters and leaving them on the desk like I had been asked.

The next morning, I was ushered through the door and shunpoed somewhere off the site. The reiatsus that I was normally surrounded by disappeared, which was the only way that I could tell. That, and the fact, that I knew a good portion of the forests in Seireitei. Not by the back of my hand, but I had traveled through it so often that I knew we were heading to the northern section. The area here was always a bit drier, and more brittle then the dewy pastures around the south.

"Welcome." I bowed quickly at the man that was clearly the commander of the platoon, and therefore the squad I was in. I could only make out his eyes, and the rigidness of his posture as he stood with his feet square, legs hip-width apart, and arms held at his lower back. "Shihoin-sama called for your immediate retention here."

 _I don't like that wording._

 _Quiet, Kumo._

I narrowed my head, spying the figures around the room. They all stood alike, giving no signs of ware or emotions. Then I placed down my eyes at the man in front. Just as I was about to state something he cut through and paced up to me. He came so close that I could basically feel his chest against my chin. I shifted my posture so that my knees loosened, and my fingers flexed ready to move.

Suddenly the cold press of a sword was sliding towards me, right by the area of my ribs. It lathered itself into my shihakusho and into my skin; the soft knick pouring out some blood from the cut. _Che—_ I shunpoed out before the wound could get any deeper. Then I moved up, flipping several times and dodging out of the way of several incoming people. I finished my last flip with a side split to kick two opponents, sending them backwards.

Landing, I moved seamlessly into a shunpo. My hand closed around my aggressors head. My hair dropped down, skimming along his shoulder as I stood like a pole through the air; a one handed hand stand along his head. I could feel each quiver of his body, as the aggressor tried to move, but my hand clenched his head into one place.

As I felt the strain on my arm, my legs dropped open to the sides and I placed my other hand on my forearm, helping me keep the growing imbalance in place. The boy below me shifted again and my balance faltered. My eyes narrowed, closing to small slivers as my weight faltered, even with the new even spread. And again the head moved.

 _Looks like I don't have a strong enough grip._

I swiftly moved and dropped down towards my left; my weight sliding around as a dropped from his head through a small cart-wheel. As I fell, my feet connected with the man's chin, looping around so that my toes would dig into the cheek above. I looped around through the air and trusted that both my hands would make contact with the floor.

Standing now on my two hands, my leg snapped forward, and my foot, still attached to the enemy's cheek, flung him directly into the next oncoming opponent. The two of them crashed backwards with a few grunts. I tilted back over, my spine curling into a long arch, and then rose back onto my feet.

The man that was in charge, came sprinting at me, sword by his hip ready to thrust forward. I focused my weight onto my right foot, and then once he was close enough, rose my left to the outside of his body. Buckling my left knee, I brought it down around the man's elbow as I wound my leg around his arm. If I twisted so that my back faced the ceiling, and placed my foot on the right jugular, I would be able to pop the shoulder out of place.

"Do you forfeit?" When the man only grunted, I twisted around and put pressure down with my foot. "Do. You. Forfeit?"

"Hai."

It was not my last fight. I fell off the map for six months. After my initiation fight, which had been a little bit more than severe according to their traditions, I attended practice and training. They had even found was of integrating using my zanpakuto into the training program, so I didn't lose out in any way. It did put a few of them at a disadvantage. Very few of them had zanpakutos of their own, but that was just the way of the onmitsukido. However, the few that did have them, only got to train with me and I built up a small loyalty since I had been good at helping them improve.

I thanked Yoruichi over and over in my head. She had already gotten to cover some advanced techniques with me, so I had breezed past the basic techniques and focused on the harder ones. I had more broken bones, then I had ever had in my life. The onmitsukido knew nothing of pulling punches and kicks. It didn't help their student learn. Easily, more than two dozen people had been forced to drop out during my six month stay there.

On my last day, I fought against the true leader of the company. It was not a duel to the death, though it came very close to one. When I finished, they left me outside of the barracks and told me that Yoruichi would receive my performance review and their plausible acceptance as soon as possible. That just meant immediately. They shut the door and left me out in the forest to find my way back on my own. It had appeared to be the last test, and it was the easiest.

My eyes bleared over as shunpoed over in the direction. I had gotten a bit lost in the beginning, but as soon as I recognized the area I was in I set off. My energy was low, and I had a pretty bad slash in my thigh but I strove forward. It felt good, to finally be back to breathing true air. In a moment of deliriousness, I performed a few flips from the branches. After all, the hanging time was my favorite part.

I planted my hand onto the tree as I saw the opening out to Seireitei. I fell slowly to my knees, recovering my breath. "Should not have done those flips."

 _I warned you, Ayake-sama._

 _…_ _. Shut up, Kumo._

I chuckled slightly. He tried to act so mature, but he was just as happy as I was to be out and about in this sunshine and forest. I raked in another breath before I got up from the forest floor. Bits of earth and leaves stuck to my knees, and I brushed them away slowly.

The clothing was probably the best part of the whole process. I had changed from the standard shihakusho and wajari sandals. Instead, I adorned the onmitsukido uniform: dressed in all black, tighter leggings tied off by black cloths to keep it from flapping; a black over shirt, which had the same black cloth around the wrists; and a black belt. The shoes were significantly better, conforming more closely to my feet and giving me better grip and sense of the ground.

I had forgone the mask coverings though. I was not technically part of the onmitsukido, and therefore had no need to cover up my identity. Although, I'd probably make a few changes to my uniform now that I had tried this out. That shihakusho was going to feel like too much fabric once I put it back on.

 _Honestly, Ayake-sama._

 _What? It will be._

 _Why don't you got get treated, instead of draining out your energy by wasting time and thinking useless thoughts?_

 _You're pushy today._

I followed through. Kumo was right to get me to pick my pace up. I was losing quite a bit of blood from that thigh wound. I tapped along a few roofs as I closed in on the fourth squad. I could make out no changes. I shouldn't have assumed that that white walls would actually look different having spent so much time away. There was not a single scent off from the place. It had stayed pristine; overlapping the memory of it.

"Well, whadda ya know." I turned over to see Shinji coming up to me. I couldn't tell where he had been coming from, but he definitely was not in a rush. Then again, Shinji was never in a rush. He tossed a piece of hair over his shoulder. "Ya returned from the dead."

"Nice to see you too."

Once he got close enough I looped my arm around his shoulder. He gave a yelp and staggered, immediately complaining that I was pulling too hard on his hair. The first few steps I dragged him in a headlock with me to the fourth squad, but then he guided me by himself. He must have noticed the gash in my leg.

He sighed as he leaned up against the wall, by the chair I was sat on. He had turned his head to look out the window. He had not changed at all, with that bland look as his resting face, and his long hair streaming down his back. He was still wearing the standard uniform, a size too big for his frame, although he was still boosting the armband. His eyes still shifted around, still taking in the environment with that keen observational look.

"How've you been?" I asked.

His eyes slide over and he grinned with a shrug, his arms coming bends so that his forearms came up and his hands flipped palms up. "Can't complain."

"Really, now? - You haven't been doing paperwork, have you?"

"Nah. I jus' pass it off to some keen youngins'."

I laughed for the first time in a while, and it brought a lot of pain to the bruised ribs. They'd heal a couple of days, if I couldn't get the nurses to heal it for me. "Should have expected that from you."

Shinji walked around and came to sit on the chair by my side. Once again, his head came to touch the wall as he pushed the chair back onto two legs. "Whatta ya been doin' then? Ya disappear fo' sixth months and come back all beat up."

"Worried?"

"Course… You're ma firs' love an' all."

Underneath the deadpan of how he looked, I could see the way his eyes traced at the blood stained black. He looked quickly away trying not to get caught, and he hadn't made it obvious, but I had known him long enough. There had been the tiniest of a glare, and a sheen in his eyes passed through like a cloud.

Shinji was the type of guy that tried to hold people off with his expressions, but at the heart he was just like other people. Those he knew, he concerned over, picking at them to see if they would react like usual. If they didn't, then he'd go the long way around, or pass of the responsibility to other people, to deal with the issue. He secretly held that all behind the cool liquid brown eyes and a twist of his tongue.

"Alright, boyo." He looked over at me, and I smiled when he finally faced my eyes for the first time. "My apologies. I didn't have a lot of time to tell people."

"Che—" Normally his grin was sneaky, naturally hiding something due to his natural perceptiveness. This was a true grin starting to form along his face, his long teeth coming into few before the very tips of his lips came curling about. Even though it might look the same the feeling was different. "I went 'round ta thirteenth. Ya captain tol' me."

I ignored the snarky know-it-all comment and poked lightly at his cheek. "Is that how you actually smile?" When he only blinked, I withdrew and then wagged the finger. "I'll remember to tell you next time."

"Don' know why yer makin' such comments… I tol' ya. I figured it out."

"Hm~." My tone carried off, and I couldn't get rid of it as the nurse stepped up to deal with the damage. The man blushed at the giddiness I shoved into his hands, but he got the job done quickly before scurrying away.

I sighed and stretched, ready to head to the second division and go to bed. Yoruichi probably had already gotten the report, and knowing her she would want to talk to me now. She could wait though. I wanted a shower and then my bed. The two of us began walking out the doors; me bouncing with the last dredges of my energy and Shinji flopping his steps as he went.

"Ya shouldn't do that."

"Huh?"

"That damn bright smile… Did ya get a good look at the sucker?"

"Don't be so jealous, Shinji."

He paused to make his final comments. We were going to be heading in different directions anyway. "What's got ya so happy?"

 _Don't even think about it Ayake-sama._

 _Too late~_

"I missed you." I ducked slightly and looked up at him through my eyelashes. It was the first time that I had ever see him actually stiffen up. Trying to make it worse, I took a small step forward and enlarged my eyes.

He put his pinky into his ear trying with his eyes wandering off to the left side. He shadowed over his face with another deadpan look. The damage had been done though. He had shifted back slightly, his right leg raised onto his toes with the half step.

"Che- Ya flirtin'?"

"I'm your first love, no?"

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. I had already reverted back, standing erect and imposing in front of him. His eyes drifted up and down, before resting on my smiling face. "Don't go tellin' that captain o' yours."

"Nah~, I'll leave that all to you. - Men and their need to fight over their women."

"Wah?"

"I'll see you later, Shinji-boyo." I wiggled my fingers over my shoulder, as I gave him a smirk at the same time. Then I shunpoed away, in a well mastered long-distance on.


	24. Chapter 23

I bunked down at the squad for another period of time, holding a tandem position at 3rd seat with Kisuke. Between the two of us, the work was easy. We had trained so much together we could read each other's movements very well. It worked better than with Yoruichi because our fighting style had somehow ending up developing around the other. Since Yoruichi had progressed mainly using kido and hakudo, she fell to the sides slightly when zanpakutos were integrated. It didn't create the same seamless fit, unlike Kisuke and I since we had trained in everything together.

He arm stuck out, having just finished a swing, and he was bent over in a small crouch. I went flying over at him with a kick aimed at the hollow. Pressed back to back we observed the surroundings. The enemy reiatsus faded out, and were replaced by the small snaps of air as it whipped around us. I rested up against him, gathering up some more breath.

The stroke of a drop of sweat slipping down my temple. I snapped my hand out, sending the nails over towards the distant hollow that had let out a tremendous roar. Piercing through its skull, the final hollow filtered away. Then I let my head fall back, fully leaning into him. I could feel his chuckles before I heard them coming out.

"You never did tell me how far your reach is, Yuko-chan." He slide his sword into his sheath.

I flopped my head back onto my own body and shifted up. Kumo came back to his sealed state, and I eased him into his own sheath. "It's not unlimited, but I've never measured."

We started off at a walk back towards Rukongai 2. The two of us had been sent a little over three hours ago to get rid of a pack of hollows that had come to terrorize the northern district. Why the two of us were needed, I didn't know. Kisuke could easily have taken the whole mass himself. Yoruichi had been sending me on back to back missions since I had returned, and I had yet to ask her why. I trusted her, but I had heard Kisuke and her whispering about something pertaining to me during training several times.

Kisuke flagged the onmitsukido messenger and sent her off to go and tell Yoruichi that the mission was completed and that we would make it back to the division in a little bit. The woman gave a deep bow to the two of us, and disappeared quickly.

"That's a first." I waved my hand to the area she used to be in. "Never got a bow before."

Kisuke quickly came to cover up whatever he was thinking with a scratch to his cheek and that dorky wide eyed expression coming to his face. Something of a proud grin came about too. "That's good. It means they're accepting of you."

I hummed, narrowing my eyes. He and Yoruichi were definitely hiding something for me. I decided not to press, and followed after him. It seemed that he was going to give me a much needed break as we twisted through the streets of the district. My eyes wandered around at the cleanliness and organization of not only the area but also the people. The difference between the outer districts and these ones were so stark, it kind of made me sick to my stomach.

"You grew up here, didn't you, Kisuke?"

He turned his smile over towards me again and nodded. "Yes… I grew up near the Shihoin summer estate in the district."

So that meant that estate was here. I thought it would have at least been in district one, if not to the sidelines inside the walls of Seireitei. It also made sense that part of squad two's protective services covered the area. If a residential suit of a noble, let alone the captain of said squad, was here then it would entail needing to protect the area. If I remembered correctly, the Kuchiki summer estate was also here. The families had become a bit closer a few generations back with a low-level marriage between a few long-distant cousins of the two sides.

 _What a valuable area._

 _Indeed, Ayake-sama._

I sighed out again. Kisuke had transferred us to some sort of restaurant. I swung my cup around in circles that low grain hum echoing between us as bottom spiraled on the wood. Kisuke was looking around pleasantly, having taken the prerogative to order for us the house specialty, and had settled back to wait. He seemed to have been a long-time guest from what I could tell. What, with the way people had greeted him at the door. He looked like he was in his lab here; relaxed and stretched out.

"So," I began, taking a sip of the water, "are you going to tell me?"

Kisuke blinked his eyes, and then they wavered as they looked at me. His cheeks sucked in slightly and there was a nervous twitch at his mouth. "T- Tell?"

"Yeah… About your new invention?" I leaned my head onto my closed fist and stared at the way he began to relax, another smile coming up immediately. He was too animated to be mysterious, this guy.

I decided not to press since he looked like he was already sweating just from the concept. I trusted the two of them enough. If it was important for me to know they'll tell me. It probably just had to do with the division. I hadn't been here long enough to be fully trusted, although I was doing a good job of gaining a lot of following already.

"When Yoruichi-san told me about having bankai, I thought - 'let's create a way to shorten the training time'. I've been thinking of ways to do that."

"You've already started working on this?"

Kisuke nodded while he face faded to something serious. When he looked like that it was always a sign that it wasn't working out for the best. If only he carried that look around all the time, people would respect him more. I sighed and pushed back in my chair, crossing my arms. No wonder he looked so tuckered out. He never slept when he came up to problems, or when his mind was zooming a mile a minute trying to fix a project while his body lagged two steps behind.

"What's holding up the process?"

"If you think about how bankai works, then a Shinigami only has the ability to do that when they can physically manifest their spirit."

"That's tied into how much rieatsu they can put out."

Kisuke hummed and nodded, his finger dragging along the wood. He tapped a few times, staring off for a moment and began to word out something to himself. "Yes… A captain has more reiatsu that they can use to draw the spirit out to this realm. But if that were the case then even someone like me would be able to achieve bankai."

Kisuke had really built up his reiatsu stores. Even compared to Yoruichi he had more, but he was also very good at hiding it. I wasn't sure if that's because he wanted to stay hidden or because he had always wanted to work in the second division which needed good espionage skills.

"Then does bankai have more to do with the relationship between the holder and the spirit?" I asked, slurping up some of the noodles I had ordered.

"Benihime and I get along well enough." He waved his chopsticks in my face, an almost offended look coming onto his face. I swatted them away sloppily but he moved to quickly back to his food for me to have any effect. "Normally I'd agree but I don't think it's that way. - The relationship between holder and spirit is complicated and some don't get along with their spirits, and yet achieve bankai…. The sample size of those that get along with their spirits is plausibly larger, but most of us never achieve bankai."

 _Fair point._

 _He talks as life is understood through science._

 _He's always been that way, Kumo._

"Well, there's got to be some way to force it no?"

Kisuke appeared back from his thoughts. I shifted under his gaze, as I cleaned up my face. His eyes were slowly growing larger, something fizzing behind them. "Force?"

"I mean…. Well, if it's as you say then it'd take an outside force, maybe? What's the term you use for something that helps cause a reaction?"

"Catalyst."

"Something that helps the spirit and the Shinigami meet?" I tapered off as I thought about what I was saying. "Is something like that even possible?"

Kisuke had fallen silent but he was still looking at me, watching as every single word came out. They all slipped right into his ears and fashioned somewhere he needed them. "What do you mean by that?"

"I just mean can you force a connection like that? It doesn't seem natural."

"No." His voice was surging, pumped by an energy invisible to me. "I mean, about the force and the meeting."

"You said that a bankai is achieved when the spirit comes to materialize in our reality… Some sort of force that brings them here, I guess?" I cocked my head to the side and slowly bit off the words. I had no clue what I was saying anymore, everything seemed to become a great big jumble in my head, but Kisuke seemed to have gotten something from it.

Another month later I found out the secret that they had been keeping from me. I had worn myself ragged for close to a year already at the second division; the six months with the onmitsukido, and then five months in the barracks. Back to back missions, paperwork, and training for eleven months. I had barely had the time to stop by and see the people in Seireitei with the way that Yoruichi was working me, but I had gotten to step in.

Ukitake-taicho swept me off to tea almost the second I stepped into the division. It was odd being served tea, instead of serving it, but the experience was lovely. My former captain urged every single detail from my lips, and we spoke freely about all sorts of topics that had been off limits as a member of his division. A few of my former subordinates came up and made pleasant talk, before going off to business. Kaien, stuck around the longest, filling me in on his new position as a sixth seat.

I stayed so long at the division that Kyoraku-taicho had showed up. At the very least, it saved me from having to deal with his excitement over a private visit. Having not seen him in a while, I let him get as close as touching my cheek, before I smacked the limb away. He pouted and made a few more attempts before settling down. The three of us made pleasant conversation every now and again, but we mainly remained silent.

Shinji had been the only one that was close to evasive, but I had gotten a few messages over to him and vice versa. It turned out that his information was the most useful, particularly as I stared down at the gift that Yoruichi had slide over towards me.

The higher seats, from five up, had been called to a meeting in the main barracks that afternoon. It had come as a surprise to me but the others seemed at ease as I was one of the last to enter the room. There were also quite a few of the onmitsukido in attendance, though they sat in the back rows.

I had been called to sit in front of Yoruichi when she called me forward. I had waited silently, and then she set the box before my knees. The pasque flower, colored in orange, stared back up at me. Slowly, my fingers reached out to touch at the etching on the armband. It followed the curve of the flower's steam down and then back up, so that I could physically retain the feeling of the flower itself.

I turned back up to Yoruichi, who was sitting formally for once, with her legs crossed. She slouched only slightly as her, forearms came to rest on her knees. Her eyes watched ravenously, peering into my face as if she had never seen it. Neither a smile nor a frown covered her face, but it was not barren of her thoughts. The tepid waters behind her eyes and the gentle features were coming as an offering to take up the tasks that she was handing over with an accessory.

"Are you sure?"

There was a firm nod from the woman up at front. Her back straightened slightly and she came to give me that noble look, with her gold eyes staring at me down over the bridge of her nose. The dare now set across her face, burning my pumping heart.

"You're the only one I want in the position."

I grasped the material and shifted it up, holding it out to her. Her fingers slowly stroked over my skin as she took it from my hands. With a bow of my head, and an offering of my right arm, she came forward and wrapped the material around. I cornered Kisuke from my periphery. He had an almighty grin, as he watched the ceremonial handing of the position. Yoruichi fashioned it with two knots and then placed her hand of my shoulder.

With a twist, she picked me up and turned me to face the parallel columns on either side of the hall. All the men and women ducked their heads and pressed them to the floor in reverence. "Division two, I present to you the new fuku-taicho of your division."

I bowed at a full ninety degrees to them and then to Yoruichi. "I give my allegiance and my full abilities to Lady Shihoin Yoruichi, captain of the second division and chief commander of the onmitsukido. I will act in accordance to the values of the second division to the best of my ability, and should there ever come a time when I cannot fulfil those requirements, I will step down from this honored position."

The room filled with a polite round of applause before it fell silent again. Usually the room would be dismissed after the vows, but everyone stayed exactly where they were sitting. I had stood back to my height, which was just over Yoruichi's. I had never actually noticed that I was taller than her. Her boisterously confident attitude and full figure was more than enough to fill in for her shorter stature.

I turned my gaze over to the onmitsukido that was now kneeling down in the corridor. I couldn't make out who it was, but it could have been the corps leader that I had fought against during my training. Another was kneeling, holding up a pile of clothing for offering. I narrowed my eyes, before I felt Yoruichi pushing me forward.

She spoke behind me as I stepped down towards them. "Onmitsukido, I present the deputy executive commander of the corps."

 _What?_

 _…_ _. It seems you are gaining two titles today, Ayake-sama._

 _Holy - I'm not ready for this._

 _You'll be fine. We'll do this together…. And Kisuke nor Yoruichi will leave you behind._

I took the offered clothes, and nodded my head towards the two. They offered their vows of servitude to me, before going back to their positions at the sides of the room. I looked down towards the black clothing that I now held in my hands. Them and the armband now around my arm singed into my very skin.

I had changed my uniform. I had forgotten to do it after I had gotten back from the onmitsukido training, because I had gotten so busy. Now I had the chance, and it felt just a bit more ceremonial. I had opted for even tighter onmitsukido styled leggings, which glued to my skin. I had the black slippers on my feet that I had enjoyed, and I had wrapped black cloth to close everything around my ankles securely. I kept the shitagi and kosode with the traditional long-sleeves and the white sash around my waist, though I now had the armband around my right arm.

I had gotten some of my hair cut off, to help freshen up the look a bit. That's what Yoruichi had done as well, but I didn't off nearly as much as her. Where it had grown to somewhere down my mid-back, it now rested just below my shoulders. I tried it up with an orange strip to help signify my squad colors.

I stared at the door for the lieutenant's lounge. There was a meeting coming up, and I had decided to go early to make a better impression on the rest of them. It wasn't uncommon to not have any interaction with the other members of other squads. It was also not uncommon to not know the lieutenants of those squads. It was hard to meet the highest ranking Shinigami, although the names always spread around like wild fire.

I twisted the doorknob and walked through. There were three in the room already, but it was silent as they sat waiting for the rest to arrive. I paused in the doorframe, feeling a pressure coming onto my shoulders as they all turned to look over at me. The silence that was around them wrapped instantly around my neck.

 _Holy crap. What's with them?_

 _I see why Shinji seems to have difficulties in these meetings._

The first to step forward was a tall man, grown into full adulthood already. There was nothing that departed from the norm in his apparel, although I could see a white robe was on the back of the chair he had been sitting in. His hair was a silvery gray color, cut short, with a few strands spiking up. His eyebrows were also impressively short, only coming to what looked like the middle of his pupil-less eyes.

"You must be the new lieutenant... Sasakibe, Chojiro, first division." I bowed properly and then shook his hand that he had held out to me. "I'm glad to meet you."

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Sasakibe-san."

"At least this one has manners."

The woman's voice was jarring in itself, but her face only added to it. She had a stern face; her lips clamped together with a lock that could easily come unfastening, and her eyes leaving a heavy stare as she watched me from her chair. She had an old hairstyle, something falling like a triangle on her very angular face. It was black, minus the strip of gray that took up maybe a quarter of the hair pulled away from her face.

"Iba, Chikane. Third division."

I bowed my head quickly and deeply. She seemed to want to be held to the utmost respect, and I had no wish to get a tongue-lashing at my first meeting. I moved on towards the third figure. He rose slowly and bowed as well, but didn't move to come over towards me.

He was a graceful kind of man. I quickly noted the kenseikan that flashed at the side of his head. He was wearing it towards the back of his raven colored hair. He didn't radiate being a noble Kuchiki, though. His eyes were softened, and there was a pleasant smile across his face. The normal Kuchiki stiffness wasn't there at all. Among the lieutenants here, he looked like the most soft-spoken.

"Pleasure. I'm Kuchiki Sojun of the sixth division…. Might you tell us your name?"

"Ayake Ichiyuko, second division. It's a pleasure to meet you all." I sat slowly in the chair opposite of Iba-san. The chairs around the room where positioned around the table, and we were designated to sit in the places as if we were in the division one meeting hall.

 _I'm diagonal of Shinji._

 _He'll try to distract you._

 _I'm well aware._

A few more ushered in, and Kuchiki-san helped to introduce me to them. The first was Yamada Seinosuke of the fourth squad. Nothing stood out about his visually, compared to the man that had come in after him. Kotsubaki, Jin'emon was a rough looking man of the 7th division. He may have worn the standard uniform, but he adorned frame red sunglasses. He had a jagged scar that ran across the left side of his face, from his forehead through to his cheek, and a black beard along with his hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Who's this?" Another popped in. He was tall and muscular, with his silver hair cut short to his scalp minus a fringe that came forward. There was a firmness, in the sharp angles of his face but it wasn't necessarily stern. The two points that made him irregular were the sleeveless top which he left open to expose the 69 tattoo on the first set of his abdominal muscles. "Newbie?"

"Ayake Ichiyuko." I supplied out, not letting anyone else speak for me. I had a voice for a reason, and I certainly didn't need the sneer to my name from Yamada Seinosuke. He looked just about ready to do it, when I stepped forward.

 _Seems like he's got a bad attitude._

 _Best to avoid him then, Ayake-sama._

 _And what's with the 69?_

 _Don't let your mind get away from you, Ayake-sama._

He raised an eyebrow before nodding his head with flash of a contemplative look. "Muguruma Kensei of the ninth."

"Damn, Ukitake-taicho was right." I pulled my eyes over to my former lieutenant. Morin Takashi was stout for a man, usually standing under them. He stood out only in his bushy red eyebrows that matched the shade in his chin length hair. "Welcome to the ranks, Yuko-chan."

I grinned at the first familiar face, who was followed by Lisa, who gave me a nod of acknowledgement. She pushed the rim of her glasses up, but I think I caught a flash of a small smile as well.

Contrary to what Kaien believed Takashi-san was a very decent fuku-taicho. He was also the best to have around, able to make small talk that would slowly dissolve the whole hall into conversation. He wasn't a funny man, but he was just good at talking. I was finally set at ease as the people around started to ease into conversation.

During the wait, Sojun-san had come to sit by my side as Yamada had wandered to the bathroom. He was a very pleasant man, and I grew thankful that someone that was as calm as him was in the ranks. He didn't like fighting and that transferred over to the way that he dealt with everyone. The most interesting piece of information that he gave me was that Muguruma-san was the most likely to get a promotion to captaincy; most likely very shortly. I could see it in the confidence that sat in the guy. He did seem to put off that sort of energy. That, and the fact, that the eleventh didn't even have a lieutenant at all.

"I just received messages that both Kato and Sakura won't be attending the meeting." Chojiro came out and said as he came back into the room. He must have been receiving hell butterflies. I looked past him to see that Shinji had snuck in behind the first division lieutenant. "We'll start the meeting then."


	25. Chapter 24

I suffered for practically the whole meeting. There were so many differences of opinion that nothing really got done. Everything collided with the more traditional style of thinking of some of the members and the rule books with the more modern style of us from the younger generation. On top of that, Shinji was pulling faces at every opportunity. At one point, Kensei burst into a fit and slapped the guy over his head. When Shinji pulled his normal line, the room broke into a small fight.

 _Kensei seems to have an anger_

 _…_ _. Yeah…. Argh!_

 _What, Ayake-sama?_

 _No wonder Shinji gets so frustrated._

I crossed my arms. I had sat as quietly as possible through the whole meeting. Since it was my first meeting, I didn't want to overstep my boundaries too much. I was new and there were things I still didn't understand as a lieutenant yet. I had gotten a bit of a peek through the curtains with having Shinji as a good friend, but I was missing plenty of information. The seniors were dominating the entire conversation.

 _Just breathe Ayake-sama_

 _These are going to be the least favorite part of the position._

 _There are always parts of the job that are disliked._

"Excuse me," I stated as I stood up from my chair. The small group conversations had broken off and they all turned to look at me. "I may be new to the ranks of lieutenant but I'm hoping that I could say something…. The imposition on the lower seated officers is far too heavy."

The group had offered any resistance until I finished my statement. There were a few scoffs, though they were muttered under their breath. I could make out Yamada rolling out a few sentences, but I did my best to ignore them.

"I have spent more than a decade in the third seat, and I surveilled most of the training in the thirteenth division. - Training a squadron of more than five takes on logistical implications that none of you are considering."

"I'd listen if I were you." Takashi spoke out, when I was taking over voices. He had been giving me encouraging nods the whole way through. "She set up a number of training excursions back at the thirteenth."

"Thank you Takashi-san." Shinji was downright smirking as he titled his chair back, rocking to and fro. His head had picked up when I had started to speak. Kensei and Lisa also seemed to also be giving me some respect, while Sojun looked pleasantly surprised. "I would scrap the plans to get out to the real world. We should start small and build up. I am unclear about how each division trains their unseated members, so I would propose creating a standard program and apply it to each division."

I had taken up a pen and was crossing out a good portion from the papers. They had been the proposal plans. I scribbled out a few words in the margins, and then circled a couple more words. The room kept a respectful silence as I was hunched over the table and working.

"Four members of the squad with four members of the fourth, to keep the numbers even… And that way the fourth squad can get an equal amount of training in. - We can bring them out to several different outer districts where hollows are more rampant, along with a seated member or two. If we need to we can even make it a mission that the seated members can get paid for participation."

"That's still a lot of people."

"Of course." I cut my hand through what Kensei was going to say. He astutely closed his mouth. "I meant keep it small within the divisions. That way the division can work around how best to implement the program…. It'll cut pressure off on missions anyway while training the unseated members."

Chojiro fell in line with what I was thinking, and together we were able to echo out the proposition. I took to being scribe, so that the paperwork would go through more quickly. The room was in agreement with the new workings of the plan, and the rest of the meeting came to a close quickly. I fell back into my chair with a sigh when it finally came to a close. I hadn't meant to take it over, but I completely disagreed with the way they were going about the whole project.

 _Did I do the right thing?_

 _Of course Ayake-sama. You've earned your spot as lieutenant as much as the rest of them._

 _I lack seniority._

 _But you had expertise in the area, which is equally as valuable._

 _…_ _. I guess~~_

Someone knocked on the table to gain my attention. When I looked up, Sojun-san was staring down at me. He offered to walk out of the meeting room with me. I peered around to see that the door was already open, and more than a few had left the room already.

"I noticed your look earlier. I hope I didn't offend you." Sojun spoke as he held the door open for me to pass through. I looked at him as I crossed the threshold. I shook my head negatively as he continued to speak, "I didn't expect you to be so tough… I should have expected that from Yoruichi-san."

I was about to reply, but the look on his face stopped me. Right in the pits of his eyes there was already a shimmer of knowing and clairvoyance. Sojun smiled and tapped on his kenseikan. As the two were nobles they must have known each other from beforehand. I think Yoruichi had mentioned something about the Sojun's son if I remember correctly.

"Of course she would promote a woman like you to our ranks."

"Pardon?"

"She's always been a tough one. Barely fitting into the parameters of the nobility, between being a female member of the onmitsukido and now a captain. - It makes sense to me that she would find someone equally as strong."

I bowed deeply to befit his noble status and the words of acknowledge that were indirectly expressed in his statement. "Thank you Sojun-san. Those are very kind words."

"I'll see you at the next meeting, Ichiyuko-san."

He shunpoed away, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It appears as though I hadn't messed up my encounter at the first meeting at all. I looked at the way that the rest of the lieutenants had walked. I think I may have acted just as expected. Perhaps the shock had come more from the fact that I was confident enough to speak at all.

I pulled my hands up to the sky and began to the walk. As I opened my eyes back up, they fell open to the see two captains. I rolled my eyes, and I made my way over to their bubbling energy. Ukitake-taicho was watching the interaction between Kyoraku-taicho and his lieutenant with a raised eyebrow. He was as aware as ever as he saw me approaching and took a few steps. His eye traveled quickly over my new entire, pointing it out.

"I thought a change was in order," I responded to the unasked question as I neared. I took a few strands of hair into my hand and stretched it out to the side. "Also cut my hair a bit."

Ukitake smiled and nodded. Today he seemed to radiate all sorts of energy and I couldn't help but to smile back at it. It must have been a very good day for him health wise, and that was always great to see. "It suits you."

"Yuko-chan~." His arms came around me waist. I let my hair fling back into place and took his arm into place so that they wouldn't move, though to the outsider it looked as if I as holding them to keep him in a hug. "Oh? What's this? Have you finally fallen in love with me?"

Kumo huffed, but I continued to follow through by titling my head back. My hair brushed against his chest as I looked up at him. I kept my gaze straight at him, and tightened my grip so that he came just a bit closer, so that his arms were fully crossed around my stomach and his arms were on my sides. As he stepped through into my space, my pulse ricocheted.

"I'm in a good mood today, Kyoraku-taicho." I slowly sang the words, finding his eyes following my mouth as I shaped the syllables. Chiyo and the ladies had taught me a little too well, I guess. Feeding from the adrenaline, I pushed my hips softly back. "You know what that means?"

He hummed, smirking with his eyes half-lidded. Gone was the shock from before, but they had settled somewhere between curiosity and a look of a capture, as his eyes never once left my face. His hands just about creeped fully around my waist and just as he was coming to pull me so that all parts of our bodies would stick together, the illusion vanished.

I came out from behind Ukitake-taicho to see Kyoraku-taicho holding onto the hair ribbon. He looked a bit flustered, with his eyes blinking, as he swiped the fabric from the air and looked at it. Ukitake-taicho, who had felt my presence shift a while ago, shifted and began full on chuckling. He held a hand to his head as he let out deep laughs and tilted his head backwards.

"I wanna play~" I combed a hand through my hair and held my hand out for the ribbon.

It was the first time I had seen it, but Kyoraku-taicho's smile came up a bit short. There was a cool sheen over his eyes as he stood over from the distance, trying to hide under the shadow of his straw hat. Unlike the first time in that clearing, this was not like his animalistic stare down that had frightened me. It was as if I was feeling him even from this distance; something a kin to a grit coming along his jaw, which bit at a tiny space in my chest. Frustration? The other details disappeared as he lifted his head more firmly up and his normal, dopey look was in place.

"Yuko-chwan, you're being so mean." He stepped forward and held out the ribbon nonetheless. My arm didn't feel like mine own as I peered up at him, but he offered it out again with an open palm. Maybe it had just been nerves from the meeting. "But I'm glad to know you're in a good mood. You look much more beautiful when you smile like that."

 _What?_ Long ago I had stopped getting embarrassed from his comments, and even from his touches. I felt a blush coming back to me face that I hadn't felt in ages. I swiped the cloth and swiftly tied my hair up to get rid of the thoughts.

 _I warned you._

 _You did not, Kumo._

 _No, I did. Just not recently._

 _What are you talking about?_

"Shut up."

"Arre? I didn't say anything Yuko-chan." Kyoraku-taicho had backed off a bit, towards his lieutenant but he was still close enough to hear any whispers I said with his keen ears. He was always listening to me whenever I was around, letting no word escape his notice.

"Not you, captain. Kumo's making a ridiculous noise in my head."

Ukitake-taicho broke the interaction finally as he planted an arm on my shoulder and invited me over to the thirteenth division. Kyoraku-taicho and Lisa said their goodbyes there, though, so it left me and my former captain to aimlessly chatter again.

Kyoraku Shunsui knew that he liked women. He liked all types of women, though he found only a number truly beautiful enough to consider attractive. As it was with most men, he would say that the women he was around were lovely or cute since every woman had a pride, but only a handful completely arousing to him. Shunsui had women that flirted, women the blushed, women that stuttered, women that hit or dodged, and women that didn't react. He didn't really become physical with women unless he felt they could handle it.

Jushiro had a way of gently chastising him for the behavior, though Shunsui never stopped it. It had started in the academy, and as the friendship grew stronger only brought them closer. While Jushiro stayed a bit more on a straight and narrow, adhering to the noble status that made a gentleman, Shunsui played around. He'd admit that he was bit ashamed of a few of the tristes, but he'd learned to shoulder them and move forward.

If he could recall, he had only ever been in love with a woman once before. She was a Shinigami that had been placed into his squad, shortly after he made captaincy. She was a flirter, like him. Their banter never ceased, even if the ranks between them made the relationship a bit strenuous. Often times, he was reminded of her in some of the things his lieutenant Lisa said, although Lisa was by far the most aggressive woman that he had ever met. The things that came out of Lisa's mouth were even a bit too unprofessional, by Shunsui's standards.

The woman got married to another man, and Shunsui didn't look twice. He felt heartbroken for maybe a month or two, and then moved on. She was with someone that made her happy, and treated her well. She had a baby a few years later, but unfortunately died in combat sometime after. He had forgotten the details, because he had already buried that part of his relationship with her.

Shunsui kind of wanted a woman that was like his sister-in-law. She had made his brother softer, in a way that he had never experienced growing up. He had briefly envied the way his brother interacted with the Ise woman, but then got over the feeling. His brother's relationship had improved with the rest of his family and that's what he was most thankful for.

He kind of wanted a woman that could be like a cup, creating some sort of protective layer around his personality. He knew he was a bit exuberant and hard to manage. He had picked up more than enough bad habits between his high tolerance for alcohol and his procrastination methods. He needed a woman that would cradle that all, and bring out the joy in his life like nights of drunken behavior did for reckless youths. Yet, he also wanted a woman that could not just be a full cup of life and knowledge and charm, but be durable and strong in its material.

It was a rather lofty standard. Shunsui sometimes mused about it, thinking that he should give up or at least change the fantasy. But, it wasn't as though he was picky about how the woman looked or even how those character traits manifested so he decided that it gave him enough leeway. He knew kind of what he was looking for, and that's after having gone through some trial and error. He could accept that.

Years into his friendship with Jushiro and he thought that the man had picked up on it. He had laid off on calling out his behavior, knowing that it was innocent and normally just words. Yet, he and his friend noticed it, like a drizzle that turns into a downpour, when Shunsui kept coming back to the thirteenth division for tea. Something that he, himself, had missed.

Shunsui found the young girl interesting. Her actions had been meticulous, and the upturn of her sleeve was folded just like the servers at his manor. Shunsui might have mistaken her for a noble with the way she acted and wore her face. There was a strong upturn of her nose and clean cheekbones, barring people from her. She walked up straight and tall; letting nothing touch her within a ten foot radius. But as soon as he made a comment the lid over her eyes popped off at they grew wider, and there was flush that came across her cheeks making her soft and approachable.

At first he had mistaken the reaction for shyness, but he came to notice that it was not that at all. There was some sort of fear that came out of her reactions, like she didn't want to be around men. He was going to pull back on it, but he saw her speaking very casually with a few of the men in her barracks so it left him confused. She wasn't terrified of men like he had originally presumed, so he came to the conclusion that she was terrified of touch and flirtations.

The only way to break someone of that fear, was to make them face it again and again. As she grew used to his flirts, she edged up along ignoring to physically reacting to them. It depended on the day, so it he could never predict how the interaction might shape out to be. Jushiro played along with his interest, but chided that he take it slower. He didn't want one of his new recruits upset or hurt by his behavior. Shunsui could understand that so he nudged the girl in other ways to see what would happen.

The idea cracked on the day she played along. He never would have expected it, but there she was blinking her eyes up at him, leaning over in a slightly provocative way. Her words had slipped into a higher register, coming out in a slow tune, serenading him with the words that were running through his own head. Her fingers felt soft on top of his. The muscles twitched at the waft of them against just the hairs of his hand. She was the master of touch, not afraid of it.

Shunsui had no idea what it was, but he wanted that type of reaction again. She never gave it, and reverted to some sort of dormant state of being a regular woman. He pushed even more, going so far as to actually attempt holding and hugging her for long periods of time. She never fell into a single hole that he dug, something shining in the back of her eyes as if she could see all his words coming.

For once, he got a bit frustrated at the prospect of meeting someone who he simply couldn't seduce in some way. She gave reactions to him. He knew this because she interacted with no other man in the same way as she did with him, but the reactions were never the ones he wanted. She didn't feel like his zanpakuto spirit, who was fickle in her playing, but more like a game-master that could slip and slide knowing all of the cheat codes around the rules.

Shunsui thought that it was just a game. She was a good colleague to have and a good distraction. She made his friend happy, and it brought out the best mentor that Shunsui had seen in him. He was thankful to her for doing that, and he did enjoy her company. With lives as long as theirs, distractions in good company were always needed, but also the hardest to develop when one stood as a captain. She didn't seem to mind it so much, talking with captains, so the odd trust and care was able to fester and grow.

Shunsui fell in love with her. It happened like when weather changes seasons; with slow shifts in the visible surroundings. His surroundings were his brain and his heart. He had always been an introspective guy, but this feeling had seeped in through the tiniest crack in the window and it took him a while to understand them.

The thoughts occurred one night when she had fallen asleep during a conversation. She had snuck to the forest clearing that he used to go alone until he showed her. He found her after Jushiro had noted her absence from the barracks for more than half the day. It wouldn't have been so odd if she had mentioned training, but she had been doing paperwork earlier and then just disappeared. Shunsui supplied that he might know where she was, so he'd go and take care of it and that was the end of the discussion. He wandered into the clearing to find her in jinzen. When she came out of it, they spent the time talking. She fell asleep curled into a little ball, with his kimono around her.

Instead of using a flash step, he decided to go on a stroll. There was no rush, since he could explain it all away to Jushiro when they got back to the thirteenth. He had taken her up into his arms and cradled her there. She was tiny compared to him, standing a foot beneath him at five-foot-three-inches, so it was an easy carry.

She had woken from the doze at some point that he couldn't recall. She had chosen to stay silent, and he hadn't noticed through his light humming, until she had raised a hand up to stare at it. When the words started coming from her mouth, he thought she might have gotten sick or was still in a half-sleep state, but neither was true. Her brain was going a mile a minute with theories, and she staring at her hand as if it was the epicenter of the universe. She shifted those globe eyes over to him and spoke half-not in reality whilst never looking away. Her presence was so acute, he felt like he was breathing her in for days.

In the subsequent days that followed that all too short walk back to the division, she had disappeared again in her training. She came back fruitful and overjoyed, for the first time calling towards him as she was carrying tea. Her ramblings for the other night, which he still felt bouncing around his head, had been about her shikai and he just hadn't known that at the time. She thanked him profusely, never letting him get a word in. Not that he could figure out how to get his mouth to work; other than getting a few sips of tea down his throat.

Jushiro snickered at him for months after, jabbing at him what he already knew but didn't confirm out loud. Jushiro would know without the confirmation. It had always been that way. The only person Shunsui told with words, because he knew that in a strange sort of way she would understand, was his lieutenant. He told her in the way a flirter told anyone else, and that was by using carefully hidden adjectives in his sentences. A standard person wouldn't have thought twice about it, thinking they were just normal descriptors, nice in their implication.

Lisa had caught on quickly, and vowed in such as many words to never reveal the secret that he held close to his heart. And that was why they could flirt with each other relentlessly. And the very same reason why Ayake Ichiyuko could stay hidden in his very beating heart without him suffering in the slightest.


	26. Chapter 25

"Yoruichi." I came through the doorways and handed off the papers to an exiting person. I gave him a few orders and he sprung away off to fulfill them. Yoruichi was slumped in her chair, leaning against it as if she had just woken from a nap. I bent and sat down in front of her as she began to stretch out the muscles in her arm. "Where is Kisuke?"

"Hm? Didn't he tell you?" I shook my head at the answer. The cat stretched out again, twisting her feet, and then leaned back onto her hands. "Said something about figuring out this new training method?"

"Did he say for what?"

"His bankai."

I faltered and stopped pouring a cup of tea for myself. No wonder he had been spending so much time in his lab as of late. He had dropped the conversation of bankai training rather quickly, but I had known it was because he was figuring something out in his head. I hadn't supposed he would come up with an idea so quickly. Then again, he had been thinking about it long before he had ever brought it up with me.

"How'd the meeting go?"

The lieutenants meeting had been productive for the most part. The training program that we were coming up with was finally being ironed out, and we would get to implement it soon. All the lieutenants seemed to have taken an interest in actually participating, even Shinji, and the results had come together faster than I ever thought. The first division was going to be the first test run, and if it succeeded, then each division would take it up. The program would only be considered a success, however, when the results would come back hopefully improving the unseated officers statistics as well as getting rid of the menace that was hollows.

"Our training program should be up and running soon. We're going to try and get the approval of the sou-taicho in the next few weeks."

"Glad to hear that… You've been working hard on that proposal."

"Well, since it was my idea initially the others wanted me to write it out."

"More like they didn't want the extra work." Yoruichi stood and began to walk out the doors. "Come on. I got someone I want you to meet."

The last time she had done this, followed by that infernal smirk of hers, I met her younger brother Yushiro. For only being a toddler, he was energetic and messy, clinging to the cat as if she was his lifeline. She had asked me to babysit for no more than five minutes, but I got stuck with him for five hours instead because she had gone to doze off.

We were heading in the opposite direction this time, so I knew that it was not her younger brother that I would be dealing with today. Hopefully, it would be somewhat productive. I sighed as I realized how much work was still left to do at the barracks. I would be having another long night, depending on how long this meeting ran through. I cracked my neck out. I also needed to get some training in. I had a bit too much energy going through my system at the moment, and even Kumo was getting antsy at the lack of movement.

When we hit the small pocket of grass, off by the western side of Seireitei I knew that we were somewhere close to the sixth division. I had come this way more than a few times to get to the eighth squad, particularly as of late since Lisa was taking on a surprising amount of work for me to help out with the project. Kyoraku-taicho had been delighted at his two "lovely women" were getting along. I was surprised he actually had bothered to come to the office at all, but he would never give up any opportunity to get under my skin.

"Shihoin-taicho…. And Ayake-san. This is a surprise." Sojun said as we were announced into the division. He looked like he was just coming back from a walk; most likely having some sort of job outside of the division.

Yoruichi only grinned and scampered behind the man. She had gripped hard onto my wrist to get me to follow her in the mock secret style. I did so reluctantly, feeling out of sorts for acting so childishly in the middle of another division.

 _You're enjoying this, Ayake-sama. Don't lie._

 _How can I when you keep me so truthful, Kumo~_

I smiled slightly. With Yoruichi never taking anything seriously, it was hard not to get caught up in it a little bit. At least, when the situation wasn't dire or I really needed her to stay focused on something. Her attention span had gotten a bit shorter since her position as captain had rooted a bit more deeply in the division. I had overheard several rumors that praised my friend for her excellent work. The ones about Kisuke, though, left much to be desired. He really needed to get out of his lab and start interacting more.

Sojun said nothing about our movements, and chided softly not to make too much of a mess. I raised my eyebrow at this. It was not a good sign if he was saying that. When he knocked and entered the captain's office I spied exactly what Yoruichi had brought me here for.

The boy who I presumed to be Kuchiki Byakuya was standing in the middle of the office. He was already looking more and more like a Kuchiki, with the long black tresses, tied back so that it was brushing against his neck, and the same twine frame that his father possessed. His shoulders were even perfectly straight as he stood there. His eyes, I'm sure, were onyx in color and there was probably a stoic look in them. He was wearing training garments, and had a bokken wrapped tightly into his grip.

"Byakuya-bo."

The boy whammed around sword extended out to try and hit Yoruichi. "Damn you, you devil cat."

 _What…. Is going on?_ I blinked several times to try and understand the scene. Byakuya had not only shouted in a huff of anger, but had used a minor cuss in his language. His onyx eyes held pure childish rage at the woman who he was pointing a sword at.

I turned over to Sojun, who shrugged pleasantly and let out a few chuckles at my face. I clenched my teeth slightly, and pulled a breath through my nose. No wonder he said not to make a mess. The boy had a temper the size of an elephant and Yoruichi loved to pull on strings. Under my breath I let out a few chuckles of my own. If the father could laugh, then so could I.

"What are you laughing at?" The question came out more as a statement in an angry huff as he whirled his sword over to me. Yoruichi pouted slightly at the lack of attention, but said nothing.

 _So many options…._

 _Kumo, I do believe this is the first time you've ever wanted to tease someone._

 _I am you._

 _Oh, hush, you spider._

"Ayake Ichiyuko, Byakuya-sama." Yoruichi arms flayed up behind him in a protest. She made a few faces and then crossed her arms in protest. I turned to the boy that was now narrowing his eyes in suspicion. "Lieutenant of the second division."

When I made no other moves to say anything, his guard lowered. He kept his eye on me, trailing them. Discerning what, I wasn't sure, but he kept looking. I stayed still keeping my eyes on him, until he found what it was and nodded. There was a jut in his chin, and a slow smirk coming to his face.

 _Oh, boy…._

"You see, grandfather." I blanched at the sudden turn of attention to Kuchiki Ginrei. It was completely unexpected and I had almost forgotten that he was there since Sojun hadn't addressed him. "I can command respect."

 _When did he get that impression?_

 _This is what happens when you treat child as if they are higher than you, Ayake-sama. Remediate the situation._

 _You and your pride._

 _Your pride as well._

His grandfather hummed and looked up from his papers. He had continued working without noticing every disturbance that had occurred in the room. Somehow, though, it was obvious that he had been multitasking. Particularly when he gave me a heavy look. The man was known for being quite a stickler for rules and his unbending attitude towards just about everything. Unlike the son he bore, his face was very stern and he made sure to show off his nobility in each wrinkle of his face.

"Kuchiki-taicho." I bowed lowly. Of everyone in the room, I had the least reason for being there and acting impolitely. At the very least, Yoruichi was a noble from an equally important household, and was now an established captain. I was neither.

"That has very little to do with you Byakuya." The captain flipped through another paper as he picked up his pen. The tone was not nearly as harsh as I thought it was going to be. It was almost as if he was playing along at teasing the boy, without making it obvious…"And more to do with the fact that she has manners."

 _So he is teasing him._

 _I guess that's what should be expected when one is related of blood_.

Yoruichi skipped in through the turn in conversation and planted her arm on top of the boys head to use as a head rest. She gleamed down at him, as he visibly began to twitch. "Demanding respect? You're too young for that."

He jerked the sword around, spinning as he did so to try at reach her. Then the sword came back over towards me, this time brushing up right by my nose. I eyed him for a moment, taking in the sudden narrowness of his youthful wide eyes. I could see why Yoruichi enjoyed angering him so much. It was completely counter the image of the Kuchiki family but it was also like watching a baby chick with its feathers puffed up.

"Well?"

I raised an eyebrow at this. Slowly I knocked the sword from my face with my knuckles. With the passage clear I leaned forward slightly, and letting a smirk come across my face. I dragged the words out nice and slow. "Well what?"

The sword gone as his weapon, he stepped up and tried to push me back with the force of his glare. "Were you just being polite?"

"Between your temper and your height, I'm not sure which makes you more of a child."

His cheeks puffed up red in anger, before he turned in a flourish back to Yoruichi who had stolen his hair tie. It seemed to be a natural occurrence between the two, since Yoruichi was taunting him with being slow again. I understood the comment once they had both flash stepped from the room. Inadvertently, Yoruichi was passing her shunpo skills over to someone else. Maybe she was attempting to create her own legacy of some sort.

"I apologize for my son's behavior." I turned to Sojun who was staring out the door where they had disappeared. "He just never seems able to reign it in when Yoruichi-san comes around."

I waved off his attempt at apologizing. "He's young. In time I'm sure he'll come to control his anger. - Though, I will say I hadn't expected that."

Between Ginrei being cold and Sojun being nice, Byakuya holding a temper just didn't seem likely. When Sojun had briefly mentioned him, I got the impression he was a bit reserved for a child with the amount of energy that he was putting in to his training. Though the boy had just started in training, to be pushing to flash-step with the goddess herself was obviously a sign of commitment.

"Yes, well…" Sojun turned over to his father who was still going through papers. When he cut the rest of the sentence and jumped forward, I knew he was mentioning that it came from the man in the room. "You seem to do well with children."

"Really?" I had never been around any to know if I got along well. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to have any children of my own.

"Sojun," Ginrei cut off our conversation and raised his hand into the air. With a quick flick he had his son walking over to the desk. "This is the lieutenant behind the training program?"

"Yes, sir."

The older Kuchiki gave me a non-too subtle look and I quickly made it over to his desk. He had a few of the papers from the lieutenants' meeting in his hand. The very fact that he looks over the work-in-progress was something odd. I had known no other captain to do that. His thin eyes came up to me and he set the papers down. Leaning back onto the chair, he stuffed his hands into his sleeves.

"It's an interesting proposal. I've been keeping track of it since Sojun told me about it."

"Thank you Kuchiki-taicho."

"I'm curious," he shuffled around slightly. I spied Sojun standing less rigidly just by my side. I could relax with that. If the son thought it wasn't dire, than I should be okay. "You seem very keen on having the program take place in the outer districts. I'd say it's safer to have them anywhere above ten."

"With all due respect, Kuchiki-taicho, a training program is not made to be easy. The program will only be enlisting those that already have a shikai, and wish to further their own personal training regimens by gaining hands-on fighting experience. That cannot be done in a situation where they feel safe and protected."

"I understand, but there are enemies that rampage around the higher districts as well."

"And you would deny those in the poorer districts the protection they deserve to give it to those that already have it?"

 _As was the mindset of nobles to think only of those that they deemed worthy._

 _You knew this may happen Ayake-sama._

"I think you might be misunderstanding my point, Ayake. Unseated officers are unseated for a reason. They would be no better protection then having nothing at all."

Kuchiki-taicho had made a slightly fairer point then what I thought he was proposing. It seemed that he was thinking to have unseated officers in less dangerous situations so as to lower the frequency of injury or mortality to the Gotei 13 itself. As it was for a captain, the administration always came before the people it administered to.

"I see. But I have to disagree. - The program is made of three points: first, to give experience to those that believe they can become seated officers; second, to eventually take pressure off of seated officers who are taking more and more missions in the outer district; third, to rid the outer districts of hollow infestations and to build trust towards Shinigami…. By sending officers to well-guarded areas they'll receive none of those benefits, I can assure you."

"You mentioned nothing of trust building exercises during the meeting, Ichiyuko-san." I turned to Sojun who had been listening keenly to the conversation. I had momentarily forgotten he was there so that I could keep my thoughts collected as I faced off with a hardened veteran of the Gotei 13.

Since the pressure was off from the older male, who seemed to have been sorted with my points, I shrugged leisurely. "Because it's not a trust exercise."

'Then what you just mentioned…" his words trailed off in confusion, which was reflected in the way he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Residents out in the outer districts don't like Shinigami, because they never come. Seireitei doled out a few too many promises that they haven't been able to keep due to negligence to the outer areas."

Ginrei rose an eyebrow, a new sort of argument on his face. "The amount of graduates to the amount of hollow sightings in Rukongai and in the human world… We're spread too thin."

"I realized. It was because none of the divisions were using their unseated officers correctly. That's why I proposed this plan…. But those in the Rukongai don't know any of our politics. The just see empty words."

"So by getting more Shinigami out there we inadvertently are able to create more trust."

I pointed my finger at him and nodded. Compared to the amount of souls that existed and were created every single day, Shinigami were only a small fraction of them. We probably only amassed to a little under five percent of the population residing in Soul Society. When the Gotei 13 was established, it was set up in a way to help protect those innocent from hollows and the like.

However, there was a draught of souls that were actually capable in becoming Shinigami, and then an even smaller proportion that could handle several years fighting hollows without dying. Distrust festered and the numbers dwindled in those that were even able to produce reiatsu, because of anger towards the association. It was not uncommon to see souls act against Shinigami in many instances, barring those in the top twenty. Then the drastic decline in living standards after 50, impounded the message that Shinigami were little more than puppets for the noble class that ran Central 46.

"You must have been thinking about this for a long time, Ayake-san," Sojun stated after a time. He had picked up the papers from his father's desk and was reading them over, like he could see the image clearer now. "I thought the details were very precise, but now that I understand it better I can see just how much."

"It's the reason I became a Shinigami." The two men turned their true focus onto me for the first time. Before it had been to pick out details and make arguments, and now it was to see the full picture of who I was. "I've been thinking about this for years."

"Years?" Sojun whispered, staring back at the paper.

"Ah," Ginrei put his hands before his mouth, but it did nothing to block to sudden understanding. "You're from the outer districts aren't you?"

"Yes… My district was attacked by hollows one night and the place I was living in was destroyed along with the woman who had taken me in. I became a Shinigami after that, since I already had reiryoku."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's fine Sojun-san." The man really was too nice to be a Shinigami, much less one from a noble family like the Kuchikis. "That's why I said that woman who took me in. She was not my mother, and there really weren't that many feelings between us. We were sort of using each other."

Chiyo gave me her name so that I would become her legacy and let it live on forever. I received knowledge and a living that kept me safe from the dangers outside the brothel. There were moments when I thought she might have been a mother, or at least a figure I could respect, but as I grew older that hope flickered out. In respect for what she had given me, though, now I was carrying her name and it was uttered with respect. Hopefully, that put her soul to rest.

The nobles could understand that sort of relationship. Politics always trumped emotions in the houses like that. Yoruichi had only given me a whiff of how that worked when she was recounting her arguments to get out a marriage.

"I joined the academy to try and understand the opposite side of things, but the answer was more complicated than I anticipated…. I've been working on that since I graduated the academy."

The two fastened themselves down in shock. Sojun turned through the pages again; the thin slices cracking through the air. Ginrei slowly began to sip on some tea. He had twisted so that he could look out the window in his office. He looked nothing like the stern captain I had come to know in the few minutes or the rule-driven noble that he was rumored to be. Here he looked passionate in his resolve to fix a problem.

 _How dedicated he is._

 _…_ _I wonder if its Kuchiki trait to hide behind their pride._

"What is your goal?" The older noble finally asked. He had yet to turn towards me, but his eyes flickered several times to look at me.

I smiled slightly, and then raised my hands as one does when they are threatened. "Captaincy, of course…. I want to do reconciliatory work with the outer districts and there's no squad that currently does that."

Blankets of silence came ushering through with the whistling wind. The door had been flung open as Yoruichi finally made it back. I didn't turn to know that she was already eyeing the room, in that cat-like way of hers. She was shuffling as Byakuya came in panting. He swung for his ribbon, which came to him, for once, very easily.

"What's going on?" The young boy had turned towards the room. He probably noticed the arrows that his grandfather was aiming at me. Sojun hushed him instantly, having come from his scrounge of looking at words.

I bowed slightly, ready to take my leave from the office. Yoruichi looked about ready to stop me, but she let me walk through and then with a stuttered step made to follow after me. She placed her hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head and, slowly jostled it off giving her a quirk of my brow. A new grin blossomed across her face and the serious gold eyes became cat-like again.

"You'll have my support." Ginrei finally spoke. I processed the words over, not sure what he meant by that. "And from what I hear, you already have the support of three other captains."

 _That really doesn't make it any clearer._


	27. Chapter 26

Kisuke and I were off again for another mission. We were leading two groups of five behind us for another practice run. We had scattered around in a typical tactic to track down the hollow faster. When the hollow was found the others would know with a flare of reiatsu from the one or two fighting. Reiatsu was kept hidden not only for stealth purposes but for tracking and notification purposes as well.

"I told you Kisuke. Kumo would have my head if I trained for bankai like that." My foot tapped against the branch as we continued moving.

Kisuke huffed before a good natured smile came on his face again. "I know~ I just wanted someone else to test run it so I could gather some more information."

"Did testing it on yourself not give you enough data?"

Kisuke had took Yoruichi and I down to the training pits earlier one day a couple of weeks ago. We normally trained together in the morning for about two or three hours, but he got us there so that he could show off his newest toy. It had been made from the same material as the gigai, but looked nothing like it. It had a similar shape to a human but much more simplistic and proportionately off.

He explained the workings. Stabbing a sword into it and releasing a mass of your reiryoku into it, would physically manifest the spirit. Then the Shinigami and its spirit would duke it out in order to achieve bankai. Kisuke proudly presented it as a three-day technique. The only downside was that the person needed to absolutely have the correct amount of reiryoku, and the process needed to be completed in three days otherwise it could have additional side-effects.

We shunpoed over to where the reiatsu had flared, but by the time we had both gotten there the hollows had been taken out. Sub groups B and C had gotten to the target, and finished it off. I stared over at the physical blows that the two groups had taken, and then let out a loud sigh. Division two motto was to use any means to get rid of the target; even if it meant using their own allies as bait. It was one of the few things that frustrated me about the second division.

"You know…. Sometimes I don't understand why Yoruichi asked me to be fukutaicho of this division." Kisuke hummed as he glanced over at me. I gave out a few orders for the rest to take their wounded comrades over to the fourth division before we started heading back. "I don't really agree with the motto of the place."

"You don't really agree with most of the mottos." Kisuke pointed a finger of to me as if he was physically pressing down on the point.

"Keep that to yourself would you? I don't need to end up in the nest for criminal thoughts."

It had become somewhat of a joke between the two of us, having shared the same position for a time. Though sending people the most dangerous to be locked up and dealt with in the Maggot's Nest was not a joking matter at all, crafting jokes around the topic was a way to alleviate the tension. Not many knew about the place, and so ordered to keep quiet, it was only the two of us that could understand the references that we joked about.

I understood the reason for having such a place. The Gotei 13 had to take out subversive and potentially harmful thinking before they could ever manifest into actions. Seeing people become zombies of their former selves broke little pieces in me. As someone who appreciated different approaches to life, it went against my nature to impose something on someone else, and more so to incriminate them for it. But living in a society, there was always going to be that need to protect the center and therefore condemn some peoples.

Kisuke knew of my reasoning. I had given it to him more often than ever before during that first month of working in the position. He had offered to take over all those duties, but I had stuck it out. I hardened some part of me to hold back the chips that occurred every time. Kisuke knew better than anyone how I detested what the Gotei 13 made me do sometimes.

"Do you not think that, that's the exact reason we wanted you to be fuku-taicho?" I pulled from my thoughts to look over at the serious look on his face. "It's something that neither I nor Yoruichi-san can do."

"Do?"

"You having grown up differently, can shift the thinking of the second division…. You've already implemented stronger team-work aspects to the division than ever before. - Simply put the motto may not change, the majority of the people may not change, but by existing in that whole you're creating something new."

I came to understand Kisuke's words just a bit better a little time afterwards. The Gotei 13 underwent a change. The type that caused a minor revolution in the ranks and thrust in a new age. Four changes happened simultaneously to the surprise of almost everyone in Seireitei. The small changes of just four people changed the entire dynamic of how the Gotei 13 would come to function, similar to how the three of us at the second were changing the dynamics there.

Kensei and Shinji were promoted one week apart from each other to the captaincy of their divisions. Kensei's had been a bit more planned with his taicho having a foot half-way out the door already. Shinji's came as a shock, with his captain suddenly confessing to a mortal illness that none had known about except his wife. Unohana-taicho had confirmed it and the former captain stepped down opening up space for Shinji to step up.

Kensei picked his fuku-taicho as a bumbling child of a woman by Kuna Mashiro. She had been third seat, and although immature in her thinking, she did radiate a certain type of power. My imagination was confirmed when I saw how frustrated Kensei got within seconds of seeing the two interact. I could only assume the reason he had allowed her to progress up the ranks was because she was indeed competent in fighting.

Shinji didn't pick anyone, claiming that he was going to keep his eye out. The way he eyes glossed over gave me the impression that he had an idea of who he wanted but he was unsure whether or not to pull through on the idea. He never openly admitted the worry. I could also see that he was devastated with the idea of having to do so much work. He had let out more than enough sighs when we met up for some tea.

He was just able to miss the angry tot of a girl by the name of Sarugaki Hiyori coming in as lieutenant of the twelfth, jumping up from a lower twelth seat. Hikifune-taicho had promoted her after the unfornate death of her previous fuku-taicho, and although the girl had lots to learn Hikifune was hopeful that she would make a good second in command. Shinji and I openly expressed a few doubts to her as respectfully as possible, though Shinji didn't do it nearly as well as I did, but the woman was so optimistic it seemed to run straight through her ears.

I found out that Shinji's worry came from the fact that he didn't get along with the girl at all. We had run into her after a meet-up only two days after her promotion, although I had yet to meet her since there had been no meetings with the sequential promotions occurring. I had been shown a picture of her. So I recognized her flying form when she immediately sent a double-legged kick into his face.

"Sarugaki-san, please that behavior is completely out of line." I grabbed the small girl and held her under the armpits.

"How'd a baldy like you get to be captain?" Her voice was grating as she shouted at Shinji who was clutching to his nose. It was a first to see the man so non-composed; his normal bland features crafting into a spitting snake. "Let go of me!"

 _She seems to only speak in shouting._

I tussled with the girl. Well, she tussled with me, attempting to grab at my fingers. Between the two of us, not only had I been lieutenant longer than her but she was also fighting against someone that had years of hakuda training. She seemed to only use power moves, fueled by the anger she could pull from nowhere.

 _Tsk…. Such an angry child._

I swiftly moved and got my arm over her shoulder and crossed it diagonally across her chest, cutting through the valley of her breasts. I yanked her back and held her tightly to me, while moving my other hand so that it came up to hold the back of her head with it still firmly lodged underneath her armpit. She struggled, but it was like holding a fly by its wings.

Shinji pulled down his eye lids and stuck his tongue out while stretching his mouth out. He had squatted low in front of the girl, so that she could still make out the look on his face. I allowed her to get a kick at his chin, just so that he would stop. She deserved to get him back for that taunt. I only had problems with the greeting.

"Would let go of me?" She snarled out, trying to bat at me with her arms.

Shinji was already getting back up, holding onto his throbbing chin where she had kicked him. I shrugged my shoulders at his glare, before looking down at the blonde. "Are you calm?"

"Yes."

 _I highly doubt that, Ayake-sama._

 _Well~~_

I released her within seconds, and was surprised at the fact that she simply remained in front of me. She was rubbing at her neck, and then she came swinging her leg at my face. I held onto it as she sent fist, now that she was slightly higher than my height, to my face. I caught that as well. She tumbled through the space, trying to send her other leg down onto my head. I snorted and then dropped her; her little plan falling through immediately. She glared up at me as she groaned slightly from the unexpected move.

"Who do you think you're fighting?" I tapped my badge and moved my arm so that she could see it.

Her face lost the glare and she scuttled back a bit. I exchanged a look with Shinji who was now watching in his bland amusement. He shrugged, with his hands coming up in his normal nonchalant motion. It seemed although he knew her, he didn't really know her very well.

"You damn assassination squad members."

 _Ah, so she's going off that rumor…_

"Yes, and I'll kill you in your sleep." I rolled my eyes and turned to look at the girl. She still had that wary look in her. She reminded me a bit of an animal caught in a trap. "We don't just kill people you know?"

"You guys slink around in shadows." She was gesturing radically and spitting out her random theories. How did Hikifune-taicho trust a girl like this?

 _So rough._

 _…_ _Do you wonder if I would have ended up like that without Chiyo?_

 _Don't even go down that road, Ayake-sama_

Shinji was picking at his ear in that brutal behavior of nonchalance. It seemed he did everything to annoy the girl, since she was already beginning to direct her attention over to him. "Ya betta get along. You'll be workin' togetha."

"Shut up, idiot. I already knew that."

"Then why are ya so surprised by her armband, idiot?"

"You're the idiot, idiot."

The conversation progressed from however intelligent it had been, to downright stupid. Somehow she had gotten her shoe off and was slapping him repeatedly. Shinji could have easily gotten out of the hold but he never did, laying down and taking the beaten as pleasantly as possible. Pleasantly, meaning that he was tugging and pulling at whatever part of her face and hair that he could reach.

I sighed and crossed my arms. I had stopped it originally because I hadn't known, but it seemed to be absolutely normal behavior between the two. It was as if they actually held conversations like that, instead of just using words. They didn't appear to be enjoying it at all, but it seemed familial in some way. Nothing would ever stop that. Not even rank.

 _What an odd interaction…_

 _Will you really not stop it Ayake-sama?_

 _No point. It'll come to an end on its own._

A few smacks later Hiyori clambered off; smirking down at the bleeding and deformed face of her target. Shinji was already moving to cover up his face and was sitting up to look at her through a few of his fingers.

"You're still here, woman?"

I blinked several times and closed my arms a bit tighter than the loose wrapping I had done. Hiyori seemed to have no respect for anyone around her. Then again, I could almost respect the brazen attitude, although it would be nicer if it wasn't so aggressive.

"What do you mean?"

The little girl was combing through her hair and fixing up the high pig-tails on her head. The blonde hair had gotten a bit misplaced with the rough abuse. Now that I saw her clearly, her slightly flushed face had a few freckles and her eyes were large pools of brown. The snaggletooth could even be considered a bit endearing with her petite frame if she controlled that temper and her sneer.

"Don't tell me yer datin' this idiot."

"If I was?" I immediately responded, letting my guard down. She had been scared enough earlier, so there was no need to use an intimidation tactics. She blinked and then her face became a blushing horrified mess. "Would you be jealous?"

The two began protesting the idea immediately. Shinji had snickered at being called my boyfriend, and then snapped when I mentioned the idea of her having a crush on him. Hiyori was jumbling her words in angry mess of sentences, pointing at all the flaws at the "baldy idiot".

 _So they know each other better than I originally thought._

 _…_ _. A language all their own?_

 _Seems that way?_

"Who are you anyway?"

"Idiot, use your brain." Shinji got up from the ground, wiping at his nose with a now blood-stained haori. Only a week into the job and he was already going to bring it back in a mess. He patted out as much dust as possible before coming to his slouching height. Hiyori attempted to shout over him but he continued through it all. "Lieutenant of division two is Ayake Ichiyuko"

"Nice to meet you officially, Sarugaki-san." I bowed. It wasn't too surprising she hadn't known exactly, after all introductions would be happening in tomorrow's first meeting. "Let's get along."

"Y… Yer Ayake Ichiyuko?"

I tried to figure out the tone in her voice. It wasn't fear so much, but the stutter had me a bit put off. "Yes."

For the first time, I saw the girl that Hikifune-taicho had made mention of. Hiyori was stumbling over words and had softened the pride in her shoulders. Instead of trying to fling out a few more accusations or try to find insults, she garbled out a few words more and then disappeared. Shinji stood a bit wide-eyed at the event but then snickered.

I rounded over at him. "What was that? Why'd she react that way?"

"Wha? Don't cha know? - You're a bit of a thing 'round 'er." My mouth fell open as I continued look. I raised my eyebrows in surprise and took his elbow as he tried to walk off with just that explanation. He stared back at me for a moment before that sneaky smile came around. "Whole of Seireitei talkin' 'bout the two women controllin' the second division."

"Really?"

"New precedent or whateva…. Neva been two women in control of a division."

Hikifune and Unohana had been the only consistent women in the Gotei 13, with their long standing as the twelfth and fourth division captains respectively. However, both were a bit more maternal, Unohana much more so. She held up to that strong feminine standard of being a healer and being motherly. There had been women in the fuku-taicho position before, but only one previous one that also held the captaincy of a combat division. Never before had there been two women in control of a squad. Never had there been two women in control of a squad directly commanding the elite killers and the police of the Seireitei.

"So what? They're rumors?" I hated those things. They never did any good to hear words going on about you. Even if they didn't affect my day to day life, I didn't like the idea at all. Coming from my time at the academy.

Shinji raised a bow at this, noting my tone no doubt. I twisted my lips and looked back at him. "I's nothin' bad ya know. People talkin' about ya two like your some sor' of goddesses or somethin'."

"So nothing bad?"

"Ya kiddin'. Ya two have become some sor' of goal."

I looped around Kisuke's arm as he finished a slash and then crouched on top of it. I really should have been a spider-monkey, and not a sea spider with the way I climbed and clung to things. I shared a smirk and then pushed up higher and ran my arm left to right, cutting through the mask. As I fell back to the ground I flipped away from the next in coming target.

Kisuke came run towards me, sending his red reiatsu through the ground which killed the hollow by my side. I stuck my leg out, which he jumped on top of us, and helped to push him up into the air. I bent backwards so it looked as if I was laying on the air, and then pierced at the hollow's mask that was right behind me.

I slipped down towards the ground, snaking around in a circle and landed with my stomach on the ground as a claw came soaring at me. Laying on the ground, I used Kumo to wrap around the new hollow's leg and tugged down. The hollow came plummeting to the ground, and I rolled across the dirt at a different attack that was heading my way.

Instead of retracting my claws, I allowed them to shrink so that I got pulled up coming closer to the still prostrate hollow. I missed the second attack, and then moved my other hands so that I clanked the tips of my fingers together, pointing them at the hollow that was looming over me.

"Hadou 63: Raikouhou."

That hollow fizzled away, so I pulled Kumo through the leg of the hollow I was still wrapped around. It let out a tremendous roar as the leg detached from its body. I jumped up and flying up over its head, sending down my nails to crack through the mask.

"You guys are done already?" I turned around to Yoruichi. She looked slightly put off but she was giving that smirk as she crossed her arms.

Kisuke stumbled over, and then righted himself. He was rubbed at his neck saying something to her. I wandered over, looking more at the onmitsukido that had come out from the shadows. They looked a bit like newbies, from the way that their eyes were wandering all over the place. Well-trained ones used reiatsu sensing to stay alert to the environment around them.

"I was hoping to give them a better demonstration but we only caught the end of it." The woman wrapped her arm around my shoulder. "You're teamwork is as good as ever."

Kisuke smiled and nodded, looking over at us. The three of us standing in that triangle that had become so natural from all the training together.


	28. Chapter 27

I breathed out as I took another sip of my tea. The warm liquid melted at the tension throughout my whole body. Here I was, sat between my two favorite men at the thirteenth barracks that I had called home for many years. I felt like I was turning more and more into them with each passing second.

The area hadn't changed at all, staying the same over the years. Kaien even admitted that somehow the energy I had given the squad had stayed the same, with the work ethic never dwindling. Ukitake-taicho mumbling that it had to do with the way that Kaien was pushing everyone around, much like a more aggressive version of me, but I waved those comments away.

I was wearing a casual yukata. Ukitake-taicho had praised it saying that he had never actually seen me outside of my uniform. I had very few yukata. At the brothel I had worn them, painted by those flowers, since kimonos were simply not possible. They had gotten destroyed and then I entered the academy so there was no need to buy any more. Once out of the academy, I just wandered around in my shihakusho. Only recently had I decided to get a few. I had enough money now, so I could gift myself with a few luxuries.

He looked even more delighted when I told him I was spending my off-day with him. I was lucky since I heard Yoruichi muttering about how she was going to go and visit the Kuchiki boy. I really didn't want to be anywhere near that. I had seen their interactions up close about two more times since, and it was hard to keep up with his temper. Everything seemed to send him into a fit. I certainly hoped that not all children were like that.

Then Kyoraku-taicho had heard wind of it and shown up, trying to sneak his hand through the slit of my yukata as we sat. I slapped the hand over ten times in a series of a minute, with Kumo breaking out into snickers which I failed to silence.

"I see why you two do this so frequently." I rubbed at my shoulder. The knot had built up and I had yet to roll it out. I adamantly refused when Kyoraku had suggested massaging it. "Don't laugh at me taicho."

"Apologies, Yuko-chan." Ukitake-taicho covered his mouth with his hand and then waggled his finger. "You sound like an old lady when you say that."

"Not a lady," I supplied over Kyoraku-taicho's laughter. The poor man had gone from choking on his tea, which he had taken a sip of as Ukitake spoke, to leaning backwards in his laughing spree.

We all paused as a hell butterfly came fluttering through the group from the front. We all eyed it but then it came and landed my shoulder. My eyes fluttered as the message came through my head. I could feel the captains shifting around, and I knew they would be disappointed. This was the first day-off I had taken in a long while, and I had barely had the chance to see them for more than five minute conversations. They had always ended with messages telling me to get more sleep and take care of myself.

My eyes flew open, and I stuffed the cup onto the platter. The two men kept their shock well covered, but they had reacted as well-trained captains did. They were surveying the information they could get from my body. I shooed the butterfly off as I stood up, and collected my wits.

"Sorry taicho—"

"No apologies Yuko-chan." Ukitake-taicho chided, an understanding coming through his face. I gritted my teeth at the worn expression he had as he looked at the tea. "Duty is important."

 _Duty to what?_ I had seen that expression more and more frequently as the honor of serving was misplaced. I had to go to a few more families and tell them that they had lost their loved ones to hollows, or making up the lies to parents of children that were in the Maggot's Nest. To lose your life to your society was considered an honor, but it was hard to do that when everyone was so angered by living.

 _Ayake-sama, after this, take a break_.

"When I get back, taicho," The men looked at me and the vigor of my voice. A bit of the anger had slipped through before I could reign it in. "I'm going to want a conversation."

"Whenever you're ready, Yuko-chan."

I walked around Ukitake-taicho's body and placed a slow hand on his shoulder. He nodded firmly with his eyes, that gentle smile coming back. I looked over at the brown haired companion who was watching with that expression on his face; his half-lidded eyes not hiding that hardened note in his eyes. I brushed it away and slipped away, hearing the faint 'come back safely' as I shunpoed to the second division.

I made quick work of putting on my uniform. I cracked out my neck and then swallowed down the seed of nervousness in my throat. I fixed the arm strap on my arm and tightened it, worrying for just a second that it was going to cut off the blood in my veins. Flexing my fingers, and collecting Kumo up, I circled my shoulders to ease off all the worries and tension. I breathed in deep and closed my eyes collected everything to the back of my head.

 _When you open them, be ready, Ayake-sama_

I nodded with my eyes still closed. With a swift decision, I opened them and stepped from my room not moments later. A few onmitsukido were already outside. I nodded my head over to them and made my way over towards the meeting room. Almost everyone was already there, minus a few that were staggering in behind me. With that, I closed the doors and walked up to front, where Yoruichi was waiting.

"A party of onmitsukido have gone missing in Rukongai 30 during a practice routine. Our seventh and fifth seats went in investigation, and were only able to send back a small amount of information before being attacked by something…. We can confirm that it is a hollow, although the details are still unknown."

It was exactly as the butterfly had reported. This would be the first time we were losing high seated officers. It was hard to lose a life no matter the seat, but the importance of them being seated over the unseated ones, meant that the situation was much more dangerous. It wasn't dangerous enough to get the whole Gotei 13, as it was still an internal matter, but it did call for immediate action.

"Yuko, I want you to lead your patrol group to the area." Yoruichi started, as she stood and took up her captain's cloak. "I want you to investigate a bit…. I'll follow up with my subgroup but whatever is out there I don't want it to go in a frenzy."

"I understand." I bowed my head. A captain's reiatsu could send the hollow over the top. The more fear it felt, the more likely the situation would get out of hand. Hollows were just like that, using that devolved animalistic instinct to survive. "Group B, head out."

I received the coordinates at the door from Kisuke who gave me a serious nod. We traveled swiftly, ducking, swerving, and hopping around. As we neared up towards the area, I ordered the team to spread out slightly to control more area. Two rushed ahead, and then two sets of two went off to the sides. One stuck with me and we slowed down to scan the area more slowly.

"Spider, we've came upon the site of incident." I heard a voice coming through the radio.

As per the onmitsukido tradition I had been gifted the team name upon my graduation from training. I was only called it when I was working directly with them, since the code-name tradition was not carried through the other seated seats. Yoruichi's was cat, of course, and Kisuke's was, hawk. I had no idea how he got that name, but I guess with his ability to think a head more than a few steps. It was like having a bird's eye view of the situation. Not all of them were based on animals, basing the names off of personality or other noticeable traits, but animals were the easiest to remember and less confusing in situations like this.

"Anything to note?"

"None. - A few pieces of a ripped shihakusho. Some sort of liquid substance… Appears to be saliva."

I narrowed my eyes. Hollows didn't really leave drool around. If the man hadn't been hurt by touching it, then it wasn't poisonous at touch or acidic. I continued my look through this whole time. The area proceeding up to the area was completely barren of signs of struggle. No cracked branches, or others signs of displaced land.

"It was a risk to touch that saliva, Bee."

"Apologies, Spider."

"Just be thankful that there were no harmful properties. - Keep looking."

The man next to me and I slowly came across up to the area. We stopped on top of the same branch and surveilled. Some trees here had been smashed, and the land had trench spots every now from uprooted trees that had toppled over. Whatever type of hollow had come through, it was a highly aggressive type, from the way that the trees seemed to have been pushed to be uprooted. There were also quite a few claw marks in the bark. From the pattern, I supposed that it was some sort of wolf or dog.

"Anything?"

"Not yet, Spider."

I sighed. There was obvious evidence, but the reiatsus were very faint here. Had the hollow left? I peered up and looked at the sky. Maybe the thing had had wings? Hollows always had the weirdest combination of features. It wouldn't have been that odd.

I snapped my head up at the signs of a fight breaking out. I sent my partner to the ground below, and then we both continued forward. The two onmitsukido that I had sent ahead had broken out into a fight. Sinking my teeth into my lip, I watched as the one called Bee took a swing at his partner with his wakasaki. I jumped down and slammed onto his flinging arm, then sent a quick kick towards his head to knock him out.

When he flopped over, I turned over to his partner who was looking a bit worn. The fight must have been going on longer than I had anticipated. His mask had been torn and the sleeve of his uniform had torn away from the seam.

"What happened?"

"I'm unsure, Spider. He suddenly started attacking me."

 _That's not good._

 _He was the one that touched the saliva wasn't he, Ayake-sama?_

 _True._

My partner was already tending to the wound by wrapping it up. It was certainly safe enough to spend some time doing that. My eyes narrowed and I called the two pairs to come back over the radio, before turning back to the situation at hand.

"Did you say anything to provoke him?" I had ordered for the man to be bound to the tree, which my partner had taken to doing once he had finished with the bandage. I surveyed Bee, but there was nothing sticking out.

"Nothing, Spider."

 _It had only been what…. Two minutes after he touched the saliva if that's what caused it._

I looked up when one pair settled down. The other pair shouldn't be too far behind, but I could feel nothing from the direction they should have been coming through. The others had noticed as well, what with my never ending stare, and were shifting into position. I heard one of them radio in to Yoruichi's group about the circumstances.

"Bakudou 63: Winding Binding Chains." I barked out at the sudden crashing trees.

The hollow had screeched and a few had leaped towards the monster. It clawed directly at the binding kido spell. One of my men got up in the brush and went slamming back into a tree. Through the com I heard several voices filtering in about the situation with some sort of back talk.

I flipped up and out of the torpedoing hollow. It was a wolf shaped one, with blazing red eyes that stared outside of pockets of its hollow mask. There was a loftiness in his look through the anger. Its tongue slowly drooped out and I could see the black sheen that was covering the saliva.

"Stay away from the saliva." I roared out through the hustle as everyone took turns dodging the furious attacks. There was definitely some sort of substance in it.

The hollow had leveled out more than a dozen trees with one swipe of its paw. He crush down on the rib cage of one of my members, and gorged at the chest of another. The five of us remaining were all on the branches of the trees. It had come at us so suddenly that there was no respite, and we were already breathing heavily from the dodging.

 _He's not only strong, but the frenzy will quickly tire you all out._

I released a breath, hearing Yoruichi's voice coming through. She was pretty close by at this rate, but I sent through a few recommendations to stay a bit further back. I needed a firmer grasp of what his abilities were at this rate. It wouldn't do to have to two of us fighting blindly.

"I believe it's an adjuchas… Ninth sent in that report about that tear recently when the menos came in."

"Are you serious? I thought they cleaned that up." Her voice was breaking with the static as it came through.

"Obviously they missed this one."

"Fucking Muguruma." He'd get more than an earful about this from the woman when this was over. _Poor guy._ I heard her ordering several of her squadron to return to the division and start to report what was going on.

Whatever she was saying about Kisuke was cut off as I jumped away from the knock at the tree. It seemed that it couldn't jump up very far. I noted this out loud so that the other four would move a bit further up. I then proceeded to order the two newest back. I didn't need more death and injury on my consciousness at the moment.

 _That leaves three of us._

 _It was the correct move, Ayake-sama… To preserve the youth._

The other two went over to the sides and we formed a triangle above its head. Raising our arms we all concentrated on its parading figure. "Hadou 33: Sokatsui." Together we sent the raging blue flames over to the hollow. Even with his speed, it had caught onto its body, but the hollow began thrashing around. Knocking a few trees and rolling around in the dirt it got rid of the flames, blowing at it with its breath.

 _Tsk…. How it that working?_

In its still shocked state, the three of us jumped down drawing our swords to try and plunging. It swung a paw around, catching the guy by my left. I stopped its paw with my sword as it had followed through. The other onmitsukido had gotten a scratch by the hollows ribs, which made it lose its balance as it tried to rearrange itself from the blow.

In its haste, it had backed up towards the member that it had struck. My stomach clutched up and I took a quick gasp of air to settle it. There was something in its eyes, as it came to stand over the body that was groaning. I came to flash step and grabbed the man, clutching to him as I got the two of us out of the way.

I kneeled the man down on a branch, shifting my sword into its sheath, so that he was straddling the branch and was the most stable. I let him go telling him to keep his balance. He still had a bit of consciousness in his injured state to nod and hold on. I took a quick look at his wound, but I saw nothing odd about it, other than it being pretty deep.

 _I got to him in time._

 _I believe so, Ayake-sama._

The other member flew backwards onto another branch as he had attempted to get another few hits on him. He was bleeding from his arm, but he still looked like he was in decent condition. The hollow was swerving, prancing in a figure eight as it looked up at us.

"Anything, Yuko?" I started at Yoruichi's voice that came through.

"Strength, durability, and pretty intelligent…. Something's up with the saliva."

I heard her bark something to the several in her squadron. Probably the one that could do the long distance information share to the second division. "Saliva?"

"A member of mine touched it…. Dumb move, I know, but I didn't think much of it since there was no immediate effect. Two minutes later he was attacking his partner."

"Right."

"I saw some sort of reiatsu coming from it, too."

"Kisuke'll have a field-day with that." The man had is obsession with anything to do with reiatsu and reiryoku. "I'll start heading towards you."

"Probably a good idea. Got one wounded an—" I stared over at the way the man's body suddenly came crashing towards me.

Surprised in the action, I didn't catch it as he pulled a knife and tipped us both over the edge of the branch. As we plummeted, I felt the knife sink into my stomach area, but I was able to fight off his hand on my neck. I rotated us around, and dislocated the shoulder. He attempted to turn us around again, but I held fast and planted him into the ground, making sure to knock his head there as we landed.

 _I thought no saliva got to him._

 _Fast acting then, Ayake-sama?_

 _Yeah, it must dissolve pretty quickly._

I put my hand to my side that the member had stabbed. I made quick work of chaining him up in some kido and then left him in there for the clean-up. I could feel the hollow jumping and making its way towards me. No wonder it had been waiting patiently. It knew the time limit of its own ability.

I flipped over its roaring jaw and then slammed down on it with my two legs. In an instant it was already springing up, flinging its head backs. I flipped over drawing out Kumo. "Weave, Kumo."

I sent a swinging kick sending it over to the left, but it used to momentum to swing around at me. As its jaws opened again, I stuck out my left hand and wrapped the tendrils around its jaws and shut it closed. My arm groaned at the force I had to use. It began whipping its head around, and I was sent flying into the air. I spiraled through the air and landed a few feet away from it.

I crouched with my knees slightly bent and my arms opened at the side. My stomach was pulsing from the crunched state, and I could feel a bit of the blood soaking through my top. It squirted as I clenched the muscles a bit to see how much pain it would cause. _Not much_.

We faced of looking at each other. My eyes slowly flickered at the shift in reiatsu. The one remaining must have radioed in and told Yoruichi. It would explain her sudden appearance at the scene. She was, after all, the fastest in the Seireitei. I could sense her position behind me, having not come out of the shadows. She would sit back to observe a bit herself.

It lunged for me, and I jumped forward and up, twirling around the air over its incoming body. As I circled, I sent Kumo towards its ribs, cutting through its flesh. It let out a tremendous roar, and quickly snapped at my body. I flipped several times, to get away from each snap of its jaw. Suddenly its body spun around and I was hit by its tail.

 _Che…. I didn't see that coming_. I banged into the trees, and then stumbling back as I tried to right myself into position. He was already charging over, and I jumped up to get away from the attack.

Yoruichi came and collected me and then settled the two of us onto a branch. "It's faster than I thought…. The wound?"

"From the member. Some saliva must have hit him."

"Was it an open wound?"

"Yeah, but I didn't see any on the first victim."

She nodded and kept her eyes down at the monster. The hollow was swerving around again. It licked a bit at the wounds I had slashed onto its body. Its red eyes flashed every time, and it let out a few whines at the pain it was feeling. If the thing spoke, which it probably could, it wouldn't speak to us.

"So we don't know if it needs to make contact with an open wound then." She sighed and tousled her hair a bit. She came a bit deeper into her kneeling position and turned her flashing eyes back over to me. "Seems to have some sort of possessive properties, though."

"I wouldn't say that." I thought back to the look on the man's face as we were coming down. "It was a bit frenzied."

"A bit like the hollow's behavior?"

"Yeah. I guess so."

I hadn't been paying too close attention, but the man hadn't been controlled in his actions. It was like dealing with a beginner onmitsukido member, who was too nervous or frightened and was purely working off of reactive instinct. He had gone for none of the fatal areas, and had looked like he would have continued stabbing repeatedly instead of thinking about how best to kill the opponent. He didn't even bother to care that we were crashing down, either. It seemed that he was focused on just taking out his target, instead of worrying about the complete situation or using any of its learned skills. Overtaken by the instincts or, perhaps, the fear that an animal lashing out would feel.

"An induced frenzy… That's the best way I can think of it." I added to both myself and her. We moved swiftly. He had headbutted the tree enough times that it had finally cracked.

"Let's go, Yuko."

We began to flash step furiously around the creature. It turned every which way, trying to figure out where we were. We were probably no more than blurs at this rate. Between the two of us, we were quickly getting a more than a few heavy cuts into him. It kept its jaw snapping, so we couldn't head straight for the head yet.

 _Shit._

Its tail caught a lucky blow at my stomach. Doing my best maneuver around, its back leg finally came down and pushed me back. I felt the way its claws clung to my skin and then ripped it through. Gritting through my teeth, I could do nothing more than grunt and head straight towards the trees.

"Yuko!"

I heard Yoruichi's shout as the hollow leapt for me and sunk its fangs into my stomach. It's tongue lathering at the blood, swapping it over for its own saliva.


	29. Chapter 28

I came through briefly on Kisuke's table. I could make out his face through a web of something else for about two seconds. There was something pumping through my veins when I saw him. I felt the way that my arms were not able to move, straps holding me down. I tried kicking my feet but those didn't work either. I arched and arched my back, banging at the table to get up. Something in my head telling me to run from this blonde thing that was hovering over me. I could just make out his mouth moving, and it made me want to do something about it. Then everything went black, leaving a small chuffing at the back of my head.

I woke again in the fourth division. I slowly sat up, feeling none of the pain I remembered when I closed my eyes. My heart beat at mine own pace and my body felt like my own. My hand swiped over every crevice of my face, but there was nothing but smooth skin there. Then I eyed every single crinkle and the tendons of my hand. I dragged my other hand along the length of my finger and down to the knuckle, but I had all the same reactions I remembered having before.

 _What happened?_

I shifted and looked around the room. It was barren like all private rooms in the fourth division, minus a table that held some water and the bed that I was resting on. Someone had come through recently, since the flowers were fresh. Lilies that were toying with the very edge of the vase. Someone had remembered my favorite flower.

 _Kumo?_

There was silence for a moment more before he came through. _Yes, Ayake-sama?_

 _I thought you had disappeared for a moment there._

 _I thought you had too._

 _Huh?_

 _…_ _It matters not. I'm glad to hear your voice, child._

I heard a lock slat against the metal, and then the door swung open. Unohana-taicho walk through and smiled immediately upon seeing me looking around. She pushed the door fully open and then jammed it so that it would stay open. With that, a head popped through behind her.

"Kyoraku-taicho." My voice cracked at the first words I was saying out loud. The man himself came and poured out some water for me to drink and Unohana was checking my wounds.

Still wordless, the man watched me drink before extending his hand so that it swiped at my cheek. It slithered up to my head and massaged it a bit, before drifting away. It left a tingling burn on my skin, and I wanted to rub at it immediately. However, I found myself corking my head and trying to peer at the expression. I was at a good enough angle sitting up on the bed now.

"It's good to see you up." The words danced and twisted around my ears, flirting with them. I rubbed at my neck and looked down, trying to gain control of my speech pattern.

Unohana stepped away and began to wash her hands in a bowl that I hadn't noticed before. From what I could tell she seemed happy with whatever she had found. However, she always kept that smile on her face when dealing with patients. This one sent no terror through anyone's body, only soothing them with a tender motherly smile.

"You'll stay here for observation, but in a few days you should be able to return to your barracks." Her eyes were on Kyoraku-taicho, which made me watch him as well. He was dragging a chair over to sit down, close to the bed, leaning against the mattress just the slightest bit. Her voice snapped my eyes back up. "I'd recommend not doing any strenuous activity for a while though. I'll pass along the message to your captain."

"Of course, Unohana-taicho."

Her eyes measured my words and then she nodded. "I'm sure Kyoraku-taicho can update you on what's happened."

She left seconds later, giving a plesant goodbye and shutting the door. I noted the fact that the lock didn't turn, which meant that I had been locked into here alone. Which meant that I had been locked in to keep me from getting out. I narrowed my eyes slightly and scrunched them closed. The saliva had properties, and I could vaguely recollect that one instance where I slipped Kisuke into some sort of enemy-state.

There was a tap on my hand, and then a soft rubbing. I turned down to the movement and then to the man beside me. He had taken the hat off, and had laid his head onto his arm that was resting on my bed long ways. His eyes hadn't left me for a second, and just flickered between my own two black orbs.

"You gave us a bit of a scare, Yuko-chan…. I missed being able to look into your eyes like this."

I leant back more firmly into the pillows and pulled my mouth into a twist. I retracted my hands quickly which had him giving out a slowly whining noise. I made no move to get rid of the warmth on my thigh now that he had rested it there. His thumb slowly flickered over the cloth, but I could make out the sensation through it. I shifted slightly as the itch became just a bit too much. It had all of my skin buzzing by this point.

His smiled again and then brought his hand away, crossing it beneath his other arm. "Yoruichi brought you back…. I don't know all the details but they held you at the second division for a while. When Yoruichi reported in she said something about an animal frenzy and you being too dangerous to be around too many people."

It made sense with the properties of the saliva. That must have been when I saw Kisuke. Yoruichi must have set him upon me to conduct more than a few experiments. He must have spent hours looming over me to get me to some sort of consciousness.

"Whatever they did, you were brought here about three days ago. Unohana-taicho's be watching over you herself."

"And the lock?"

He sighed loudly and shifted so that he rose with his head into the palm of his. His other hand came and was laying on the crook of his elbow. "Noticed, huh? – You woke up a couple of times and had a few goes at the captain."

 _Shit._

 _It didn't end badly. The captain is more than strong in binding kido._

"Don't worry yourself about it. Yoruichi had warned us, so Unohana-taicho was more than prepared for your little frenzies."

I looked down at my lap, and then sunk a bit further into the bed until my head was back on the pillows. I stared at the ceiling for a few moments, feeling the leaden beating of my heart. Cautiously, I switched over to my side. There were a few twitches of pain, but the majority of it was gone leaving just tight skin. Kyoraku-taicho shifted slightly, so that he could get a better angle, though he stayed staring at me.

I curled up, my legs coming into contact with his arm and my heart pumped just a bit faster. I preferred it to the slowness that it had been going at. The slow rhythm had rocked a somberness through my body. I drifted from the pillow and curled around on the mattress, like a mother dog around its pups. My hands stuck out and grabbed onto the sleeve of his pink kimono, just the slightest bit. As if being tugged with some force, he slide his other arm from his bicep and made it easier for me to clutch at the fabric.

"Yare~" he growled softly. I heard the chair screech closer. He must have been using his feet to move the chair to come closer to bed. "Don't be so sad, Yuko-chan. - It makes me want to hold you."

My head twisted a bit at that; mainly mentally but also a bit physically, coming closer to my knees. No one had gotten injured with mortal wounds. Just me this time. There was something in my veins though. Perhaps, it came from Kumo. It was breathing a sadness through me, and it sunk into every crevice of my body from the inside out. Every pound felt like it should have been my last.

That frenzied anger and fear was there quivering still. I could just now make it out. Then Kumo's long legs came out and crashed down through that part of my head. My hands moved in reaction to that sudden clatter in my head and collected Kyoraku's bicep into my hands. It was always his warmth that allowed me to sleep. I slowly tugged it, a new urgency coming through.

He came through swiftly and I moved to cuddle his arm up to where my chest was. My nose suctioned up the smell of sake and cut grass. It must have been from all the time he spent outside. My hands planted firmly into the muscled skin, and then I found my head lying directly on the warmth. The waves pushed back whatever heaviness was in my head.

"Yuko-chan?"

His other hand had fallen down on my knee. My heart gave a burst. It was an addictive kind of pumping. The alertness was sending everything buzzing. It was better than those dark trenches that Kumo was fighting to keep back at the moment. Kyoraku's hand slide, and my legs jolted in instinct, and I was somehow closer to him.

"Is something bothering you?" There was a note of tension, but he made no moves to get away. I wasn't exhibiting normal signs of pain. Maybe he could tell. "Yuko-chan?"

"Heat."

"You're cold then?" He moved around and adjusted the sheets so they covered my exposed back. His hand smoothed down my back as he tucked the sheets slightly under my body to keep them there. "Better?"

Finally my brain registered that I could use words. The heat had made me slightly delirious, as had the vain search for some comfort for the invisible pain. My mouth opened and I felt a flood coming up to my face. I bore my nose into his arm and he shifted again.

 _So embarrasing~~_

"Don't you dare mention this to anyone, Kyoraku-taicho."

The first laugh I heard of my time out of my unconsciousness and there was twinge of accomplishment in it. Of course the man would love to brag about 'how I was falling in love with him'. "My silence is not free."

 _Give up, Ayake-sama._

 _What?_

 _Give up._

"What do you want?" I had listened to Kumo's advice more often than anything else in my life. There were very few things that he had ever led my astray on. I felt like this was similar to the day I had met Kisuke. The ambiguous terms that the spider was setting up for me to reach.

"A hug from my beautiful Yuko-chan."

"Deal." I shifted up and looped my arms around his neck. He had been standing to tuck in the sheets and hadn't gotten the chance to sit down again.

He sunk forward instantly, one hand coming around my shoulders, and the other slipping at my lower back, brushing at my hips. The hairs of his beard scratched slightly at the skin of my neck and I shuddered as I felt his lips ghosting over whatever skin he could reach. My neck stretched over the side slightly, and he brought us closer together so our chests were touching. As his hands gripped tighter, so did mine in a parallel action around his shoulders.

The small surge that came through my chest, had me opening my eyes slightly. I could make out only the skin of his neck from the way that my head was tossed gently to the side. I was leaning into his collarbone. My hands tightened up, and then one dropped to hold somewhere in the area between his shoulder blades. He hunched a little further down, and I rose just a little further.

I wrenched backwards, and nearly slammed into the headboard of the bed. Kyoraku-taicho stared at his arms for a moment before he turned back up to me. I quickly shifted my head down to my lap and collected the pool shifts that had come undone during the hug. I felt better with another layer over me.

A week later I was sitting with Ukitake-taicho sipping on tea like I had promised. He had clucked and prodded making sure that I should be moving around. He insisted on doing everything for us today, chiding that he had come back from enough sick beds to understand what it felt like. He had even walked with one hand close to my lower back, just in case I would fall over.

"And you're not in pain?"

"Ukitake-taicho," I whined out. His eyes widened slightly, his head hunkering down into his raised shoulders. There was a guilty smile that came up. "I'm fine. Really."

"I'll believe you."

"Please do."

His eyes flickered with amusement and he raised his hands to sip at the tea. I sighed and looked over around the grounds. It was a quiet day today, and there were very few people moving around today. They were probably shut up doing paperwork. Quite a few deadlines were coming up, if I remembered correctly.

I hadn't been allowed anywhere near my office nor near the training grounds at all in the second division. Yoruichi had banned me for the rest of the week, almost ushering off the premises completely. I spent the time avoiding Kyoraku-taicho, although I had dangerously stepped into the clearing that we shared as well as spending time with Ukitake-taicho. Shinji was also more than open to using me as a distraction from his work. Having yet to pick a fuku-taicho, he had a lot piled up.

The only thing I was allowed to attend was the fuku-taicho meeting. The proposal had seemingly gotten through in my time spent recovering, according to Chojiro-san. It made the meeting very short, as it had been the main focus project for the lieutenants. It was out of our hands and in the Sou-taicho's to see if he would consider it.

I had been able to also spend some time with Kisuke, although he had taken up a lot of work to fill in for my lack of presence. He had briefed me on what happened. The other infected members had gotten over the frenzies in a day and showed no other symptoms. I was the only one that showed a very prolonged reaction. However, he was still studying all the properities in the saliva, even though he was sure that it was what had induced my symptoms. He had asked for a small blood sample to follow up on a few theories that he had.

I set my cup into the dish and leaned forward slightly onto my knees. "Ukitake-taicho have you always wanted to be a Shinigami?"

"I suppose so. I had never imagined doing anything else with my life." The man had blinked a few times and then scrunched up his face. It had been at first to think back and then it grew a bit more serious as he considered what I was saying. "I'm sure you have a reason to ask that."

"I - I feel as if I've lost faith."

"Faith? In what?"

"In the Gotei 13."

His eyes froze over. He sipped at the tea to distract whatever his first thoughts had been. It wasn't treason to saying something like that. I knew the reason that people got locked up, and it wasn't for what I was saying.

"Why do you say that?"

I sucked in a breath and then released it all in one go; slowly pumping it out. "I seem to have lost what I was protecting, Ukitake-taicho…. You said something about duty and I -"

"I see." He placed his cup down as well and we leveled each other with a few stares. He brushed at his fringe, and wrapped the longest pieces around his ear. "I'm sorry to have cut you off, but I have a feeling I know what you're talking about."

"Do you?" My voice sounded weak even to my ears.

"It's a hard life to give up ones life for other people, and to watch comrades… people you've come to know or even have the slightest connection to, die. – For what purpose?" Slowly his finger came and traced at the rim of his cup. He looked just as tortued as I felt inside, his normally cheerful face falling to some sort of twisted agony.

"Ukitake-taicho…. What does the Gotei 13 really protect?"

His lips come up in a pursed motion. "I've come to believe that it protects this society."

"Is that correct?"

"Correct or not, everyone does it, don't they?" His eyes were spinning as he was trying to collect his thoughts. We shared our breaths together, tangling the air with our inner most angst at the situations that life put before us. "We protect the reality that we exist in, don't we? Isn't that enough?"

"I don't know. - I feel tired at having to protect something that doesn't really feel like mine…. I feel outside of the Gotei 13."

"No one feels linked to the whole of the structure, but to the pieces of it."

"So there are things you disagree with."

His eyes widened and a smiled broke through, a small huff of disbelief also coming out. "Of course I do. It's not as if we're brainwashed to be here… Everyone feels their duty but the reasoning may be different."

Something eased at my heart slightly. I stared down into the liquid of my cup, which quivered at the air that was brushing by. No wonder Kumo wanted me to take a break. My thoughts had gotten shadowed by the work; isolating me from the connections that I had built up around me. I guess our duty just came from some sort of animal instinct to exist, and to keep our existence alive. All of us subject to that basic instinct to protect ourselves and whatever else that entailed that made us feel alive.

"That makes sense."

The man hummed and took another sip of his tea. Ukitake-taicho drank nearly the whole pot by himself. He drowned in tea more than anyone that I knew before. "I'm glad that I could help you, Yuko-chan."


	30. Chapter 29

"Oh?" I spied the boy as he was looking both ways. I came up behind him, and settled somewhere over his head. I followed his movements with him, watching the two pathways and the emptiness they contributed. "Lost?"

The Kuchiki jumped, and I flung my head back so that he wouldn't bang into my chin. With a jump he could match the height easily enough. His pony-tail also almost smacked me as he whipped around to face the person that had snuck up on him. His two onyx eyes narrowed down, and he pointed a finger at me.

"What are you doing here?"

I looked down at the yukata I was wearing and then back at him. "Walking."

He calmed down slightly, obviously having reacted only out of fluster and not real anger. The narrowness shifted from pertubedness to curiosity as he as raked his eyes along my frame. They were working at top speed to obtain as much information as possible. The set in his shoulders hunched forward and there was a pucker in his lips. I titled my head at that. His curious look was much cuter than the angry look.

"Why are you not in uniform?"

I shrugged slightly and his eyes picked up at the movement. He had been saying it more to himself, but it was half-heartedly directed towards me. "Injured."

His mouth shaped in an "oh", although he did not voice it. Then he scanned again for the injury that he couldn't see. I raised my eye that the kids' incessant scans. He was so easily amused with putting pieces of the puzzle together. Probably trying to create more and more justifications that he was growing.

"I don't see anything."

"Well~ It's already been treated. I just can't strain my body, boyo."

"Boyo?" There he set off on blinking and watching me with wide eyes. He was still so young that he probably couldn't keep up with his own emotions nor the pace that his brain was collecting information. "Why do you call me that? Is it some sort of insult?"

Instead of letting him fly into a rampage, I took him by the shoulders. He squirmed slightly, resisting the movement, but when he came up against the wall of my grip he let me push him around. I twisted him around and we began to set off at a walk. I flipped the switch in his brain to get him to tell me where he had been heading off to. He adamantly began to deny that he was lost, although there was a slight flush on his cheeks. I smiled only to myself, letting him believe his lies worked.

 _Eighth division here we come._

"Boyo is slang." I spoke out finally. "It seems a few bad habits are coming back."

"If they're bad then you should just not do them."

I chuckled and slipped my hands behind my back as we continued walking. "I'm too lazy."

His teeth gritted and he began to spew something about his grandfather's and father's dedication to the soul society. At times he faced me, and at others he looked over at where we were walking. He was so adamant in trying to get me to see the logic of hard work and how through it he'll climb the ranks to become captain. He then chided that I should not give in to bad habits, no matter how tempting they were. I would never get better than fuku-taicho if I didn't try and achieve perfection in everything I did. He finished by claiming that he'd one day be captain while I'd still be stuck in lieutenant position.

 _Oh~ The logic of children._

 _What a pest. His arrogance no knows bounds._

 _He's a child, Kumo. Reality hasn't struck yet._

 _Too lenient, Ayake-sama._

It was all too likely that he would take over as division captain of the sixth. His father was already in line for the title, although I was unsure if he had bankai yet or not. When Byakuya was ready then he'd enter the academy, swiftly climb through the lessons, and probably graduate into a seated position. He'd make lieutenant easily enough and then become captain a few years later. How nice it must be to have one's life set out for them, knowing that it would be successful.

"Say, Byakuya," I was cut off by his call for me to add the proper suffix, but I shrugged at that. He was younger than me. "Have you ever thought about doing something else?"

"Else?"

"Like not be a Shinigami?"

"Of course not." His tone was so straight forward and to the point that I knew that it wasn't brain washing. He was fully convinced that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. "I'm a Shinigami."

 _That's some guts, right there._

 _…_ _.. I'll admit it is slightly impressive._

 _Oh~_

 _Only slightly, Ayake-sama._

We came to the eighth division. Lisa was sat behind the desk and was working furiously through sheets of paper when I knocked and entered. She raised a brow but then nodded at the chair that was collecting dust. I sighed in that half-amused, half-tired sort of way through my nose. Of course, he wouldn't actually be here. She pointed out that he was probably at the thirteenth to distract Ukitake-taicho since neither of us could feel his presence close by. I thanked her, wishing her a bit of luck with the rest of her work. Her stoic face cracked just slightly to a small smile and she closed the door behind us.

Once outside, I slowly kneeled down and offered my back to the boy. "Hop on. I'll get us there quickly."

"Absolutely not!" His face flushed and he crossed his arms to lock himself in. "It's ignoble…. Besides with my shunpo I can at least keep up with you."

Kuchiki's and their pride. He was still staring adamantly away from my face, with that soft row of red brushed across his cheeks. His shifted his eyes to peek at me from the corner of his eye and then reverted them back. I snickered under my breath but then tamed my features. I came up from the hunched position and turned to him more fully.

"Really now?"

"Absolutely. I can already catch that were-cat too."

"That's not what I heard~"

"I can." He stomped his foot down and turned to face me. We stared for a moment and his anger drifted away until he settled back to his childish seriousness. "Besides, you're injured."

"What?" A consideration to my injury… _How cute_. I offered up my back again and flashed him a smirk over my shoulder. "Carring you won't do any damage. You're tiny."

"I am not."

"I'm only five or six steps behind Yoruichi at this rate…. Don't you want to feel it? What a shunpo feels like at its fastest?"

Everything seemed to waver despite his initial protests. From the very pupils of his eyes to his body. I taunted him with my fingers, and settled down a bit lower. Hesitantly he came and pulled himself up. It reminded me of how young he was, with how little he weighed. I got him to adjust his arm more securely, and wrapped my hands tightly around the legs that were on my hips.

I hoisted him slightly and he came more accuretly against my back. His head popped up around my shoulders, and I looked over making out the excitement that was quivering there, doing its best to stay hidden beneath the shadows. "If you need to close your eyes. I won't think anything less of you."

"Hmph…. I can take it."

 _Kuchiki's and their pride._ I rolled my eyes and told him that it might be jarring, but he kept his eyes firmly open. His arms began to tighten as I took a few steps, falling into a jog. I hopped onto the roofs of the buildings, and then pushed off into a shunpo.

I heard his in take of breath. I jumped up and flew through the air. I'd give him a bit of chance to enjoy the experience. It would be too much if I just landed at the thirteenth without him actually feeling anything. I kept it simple though, sticking to just high jumps and doing no flips.

When I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, his eyes were shut tightly but there was a smile on his lips. It was so wide, his teeth stuck out. His arms hadn't laxed either, but I could see the way one hand had set his fingers free to feel the air going through. My laughter got carried away with the wind. His wide grin opened up to invisible laughter as well.

Gripping to his legs a bit more, I landed onto the roof of the main building. I could feel both the captains' presences just below. I felt like he could handle a flip, so I did one as we came to the ground. There was pick of air by my ear but no movement. His head was buried into the crook of my neck by this point.

I smiled grandly at the two captains as they stared. I held onto the Kuchiki who was not ready to let go. I could tell from the shuddering breathes. I looked over at his frame. It was quaking. I furrowed my brows in concern for a moment, but I heard a few whispers and it disappeared. He was in a state of pure exstacy. His body pumping with a vigor that he probably had never experience before.

Byakuya's head came popping up and he leant a bit over my shoulder. "Can we go again?"

I laughed. I remembered that feeling when I mastered a few of the tricks that Yoruichi had taught me to improve my speed. I had become so addicted to it, I did the shunpo everywhere I went. The way your blood pumps up through your ears, and the air whistles because it can't keep up with your movements.

"Will you keep your eyes open this time?" My chuckles came back at the flush on his face, but I cut through his weak protests of defense. "I'll take you anytime you want, boyo."

He had finally chipped away from that Kuchiki mold and he looked like just any other child. He gripped my shoulders in a new tension. I slowly kneeled and his got the picture to slide down from my back. His form wavered slightly and he grabbed the back of my yukata to stay upright. I put a light touch to his head and directed him to breath. I looked over at the two captains in the mean time.

Ukitake-taicho was grinning, almost cracking his face in the process. He looked as if he had no idea what to do with his hands; whether to collect the cup of tea or put it back down on the dish or do something else entirely. He was nearly bouncing in the excitement, for what I wasn't sure, but there was no flicker of doubt on the amount of excitement and pride. He seemed to find something to anchor down and he disappeared to go get more cups and then set off to prepare them.

Kyoraku-taicho had a mixed look. He was straining to keep the regular hyper-relaxed face, but his grin was a pulled a bit wide. He too looked happy at the development. The warmth of his eyes was a bit misplaced with something that I couldn't perceive, but it was soft like molten lava. He chuckled and shook his head, swinging his cup of tea around before downing it in one go. His eyes came to fall back on me, and he lifted his hand out for me come and join them.

I got Byakuya over to the veranda were I settled him down. He was still buzzing with the energy, with Ukitake-taicho fussing over him. The white-haired captain chided saying that I should have gone slower since it was his first time. Both Byakuya and I protested saying that the full speed was absolutely a necessity.

I passed behind Kyoraku's, his kimono brushing against me slightly and sat. He poured out my tea for me and then some more for himself. There was a riveting tension in his body, although he was completely relaxed in the environment. It was just a small knot in his shoulders that made him sit just a bit taller than he normally would.

"I'm so jealous, Byakuya… If only Yuko-chan would hold me like that."

Byakuya just looked confused, asking what there was to be jealous of since the man could do shunpo himself. Ukitake and I let out simultaneous sighs. We looked at each other and then chuckled, before sipping away at our tea. Leave it to Kyoraku's weird flirtations to go over a kid's head. Innocence was such a bittersweet thing.

"What brings you here, Byakuya?" I hadn't asked. It had never crossed my mind to so I was curious what had him seeking out the eighth division captain.

"Kyoraku-sensei was supposed to be training me today."

 _Lucky devil of a child._

 _Jealous, Ayake-sama?_

 _Only of the fact that he gets captains to train him at this age._

Kumo sighed loudly in my head, that it felt like a gust of wind. My head felt cold at the breath and I raked a few fingers through my hair. I preened slightly and fixed up the yukata that had slipped just slightly. It wasn't coming undone, but it was bearing a bit more skin than was intended.

"Yare~" Said man leaned back into his hands and looked at the boy. He smiled to keep the boy's temper from rising, but I think I had doped the boy up on to much adrenaline for him to feel anything but that. "Can we not just enjoy the day?"

I rolled my eyes at this and leaned slightly forward. "What was he supposed to help you with?"

"Hakuda."

I blinked several times. Kyoraku-taicho was not known as a hakuda user. Of course, it was much better than a boy's but the man used mainly zanjustu. Ukitake would have been the better choice, although not much better. There was no way the boy was ever going to go to Yoruichi for help, either, seeing as he couldn't stand her for more than five seconds. Besides, those two always focused on shunpo, though the training was inadvertent and the boy never seemed to realize what she was doing.

"I'm curious. Why Kyoraku-taicho?"

"It's his turn."

So there was no particular reason. It seemed that the boy was on some sort of cycle or just came around for training whenever the captains had free time and it matched up with their schedules. I leaned back, feeling a bit better that it wasn't my assessment that was wrong.

It didn't solve the problem that Kyoraku-taicho would not be getting up out of his seat to do any sort of movement. The man was practically already glued to his posture, and once he was comfortable there was no way of moving him. Additionally, he was probably going to be taking a nap soon from the way that he was slumping into the weight of his hands.

 _Why, Ayake-sama, I had no idea who knew the man so well…._

 _Why are you speaking like that, Kumo?_

 _No reason~_

I narrowed my eyes and then let out a huff of breath. I turned back to the boy who was waiting for his sensei to get up for the day. Kyoraku-taicho just looked happy that he wasn't dealing with any sort of shouting or temper tantrum just yet. Knowing him he probably got stressed out from just the thought, and he was someone that just hated stress altogether.

"Good luck with that, boyo."

"Would you stop calling me that? I'm a Kuchiki." I chuckled as I sipped some tea. Ukitake-taicho went to placate the ire that was building by distracting the boy. Attention spans of child were so quick. Byakuya turned over my words as if just recognizing them and asked, "why do you say that?"

I thrust my thumb at the now day-dreaming man. "He's the number one pascifist of Soul Society. He won't even fight me and I'm a fuku-taicho."

"I could never lift a sword to you my lovely, lovely Yuko-chan."

"Cut that out." I smacked his hand back to the ground, before he could even raise it. He attempted to turn it around and entangled his fingers but I had already moved back. "Fine… The man never lifts a sword at anyone."

"But he's a captain."

Ukitake-taicho stepped in to explain the theory a bit better than I was. Byakuya's expression went wide-eyed as one older man explained the older man. The boy had probably only been introduced to the honored hard-work and discipline of his grandfather and father. Between those two as guides, there was no other ideology that Byakuya had been taught. At least, he seemed to have chosen to also be a Shinigami instead of that also thrust upon his shoulders.

"Besides, you have an expert right in front of you if you still want the training." Ukitake-taicho gestured over towards me. When the boy pointed out that I was injured, my former captain looked pleased at the weird back-handed type of concern the boy gifted me. "It's nice that you're worried about that, but if she's just helping you with forms than she can do it."

 _She can do more than that. Fighting a child is nothing._

 _Oh, hush, Kumo. Byakuya doesn't need to know every single detail._

"Alright, let's do it."

I blinked and stared at the boy. Byakuya had already risen and was walking over to the grass in front of the veranda. I turned a gaping mouth over to the chuckling Ukitake-taicho. I gave the man a faux glare, as if I was truly bothered at being offered to teach in place of another's commitment. He shrugged and fixed me with a puppy look. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

I fixed at the sash that was tied around my waist to hold my yukata together. Byakuya was swinging out his arms and then looked at me expectantly. He had his eye wide and fastened onto me. The little boyo was so presumptious. I sighed and beckoned him a bit closer.

"Why?"

I let out a sigh and then flicked my hand again. "Are you just going to ask questions? - Come here, boyo." He padded up and came so he was an arm length away. Quickly I flicked his forehead. He let out a roar, holding to the red spot that was growing on his forehead. "For assuming that I would just help you."

"You didn't have to hit me you infernal woman."

"If your hakuda skills are as good as your vocabulary then you'll be able to land a hit on me one day, so stop whining, boyo."

I directed him into his basic form, sliding my hands along his own and fixing them. I tapped at his ankles to fix his posture. I put another hand on his lower back to help he keep his form straight whilst lowering his down a bit further. He took direction well, though he flushed more than a few times when I physically directed him through the movements. His body was not his own as I washed over him to help him carry out the movements. His body was mine to twist and bend.

 _Exactly, Ayake-sama._

 _Kumo?_

My zanpakuto fell silent, and I shifted my focus as the boy ran through his first full kata. My heart surged at the pride that washed over his face. Ukitake-taicho clapped slightly and ushered the boy back to the veranda to take a break. I noticed all this but something in my reiatsu had flickered and I was going through an internal investigation.

"Yuko-chan?" I turned over to Kyoraku-taicho who was peering at me. He held his hand out once again. I turned off the urge to collect it into my own as I joined them again on the veranda.


	31. Chapter 30

I stared down at the papers in my hands. The words bleered over but I could still make them out because I had known them like the back of my hand. Seeing as they lay crushed and crumbled under my fingers did not help me not see them. I could recite the whole thirty pages from memory at this rate, with only two breathes in between. I could condense it to five minutes. I could give the speech in my death.

The meeting had not gone as I had planned. Chojiro had come in and told me that the Sou-taicho had decided to take the project off the table from the lieutenants. He was scrapping the entire program. I dared to ask the first division lieutenant if the man had even read my paper. I received the answer in a tiny flicker of his eyes to the side.

Everyone had left the room, the meeting having been called to an end after a few messages that had to be spread around. Sojun had wanted to stay, I knew, but he told me that he had an important Kuchiki household meeting to get to. I brushed him off, telling him I'd be heading straight for the second division as well. Lisa had given me a knowing look as she also exited having overheard what I said to the man. I did nothing but put my best face on and nod her away. My body had remained planted into my chair without even a twitch. Except for now. I flung the now bundled up pages at the wall.

I rocked forward and put my head into my hands. Knowing that the damn old man hadn't even taken a look at my paper was eating at me. My heart was practically disappearing in my chest, bitten away by the monster of anger. Why was he scrapping the program? It could have worked. I gripped to the wood of the table, taking a few shaving with me as my nails scrapped against the wood. I had worked so hard.

The door came thrusting open and banged on the wall with the force of the movement. I turned my head over towards Hiyori who had stopped in her entrance to the room. She fidgeted as she looked back at me; her usual scowl coming back to place on her face.

"Whatta ya still doing here?" She came up and collected something from the ground. From where I sat I could see that she had dropped and accidently left a small box. "Meetin' let up like ten minutes ago."

Of course it was too optimistic that I could start implementing my plan so early in my career. I should have known better than to be too optimistic had the thought of having more support in the captain's room as well. I let out a deep sigh which did nothing to quell the knot in my chest. I rubbed at it slowly, resting my head against the wood of the table now.

"Ya sick or somethin'?" She was much closer now, and I could feel the nervous energy that she was radiating. A glance told me that she was crossing her arms over her chest, with that petulant glare still on her face and a pouting frown shifting around. Her snaggletooth was all too apparent.

"Do you mind if you just go?" There was a pulse in her eyes and they turned down for a moment, before she went ramrod straight and stalked out the door. "Hey - I do appreciate the concern though."

Hiyori had turned when I said my second sentence, her eyes seeming to actually assess the situation. Her eyes flickered over to the papers that had fluttered all across the floor once I had thrown them. Some sort of of comprehension dawned and she came to look back at me. She collected her data and then her normal frown came upon her face, but she turned away and left the room.

She had looked so downtrodden at first, and then it was replaced with knowledge. It seemed she was the type of girl that did want to be relied upon just didn't know how to get around her rough body language. I knew I was forgiven when the door slammed shut and I heard her muttering to herself about stupid girls.

A hollow laugh escaped and I turned back to face the floor. At least now I didn't have to apologize the fiery girl, and that didn't have to weigh on my heart right now. It was almost nice that I was learning how to read her just a little bit. I sighed and then got up, collected the papers, and then left the room. Nothing would come from staying in that clausterphobic room anyway.

I sent a flurry of punches to the man's stomach and then hoisted him up by his arm to throw him clean across the room, knocking at a member that was running towards me a bit further off. Two more had come running at me from the sides, but I jumped up and side split kick them in the face. I landed on my hands and twirled around, knocking off the next three opponents with sweeps to their torsos.

I came out of my spinning handstand, and did a jump swinging kick towards the next guy's head. I then flipped over with the hang time left, and came down into a crouch on the next guys' chest. I prounced forward from there and jumped clean over the heads of a new group. As I floated through the air, I twisted onto my back and curved around so I landed on my feet.

Pushing from my new position, I drove right through the new volley of members and beat them all away with a few punches and kicks. I even used a few shunpo to get around the hands and feet, but I was agile enough to twist around all of them without really needing them.

I turned around with my leg raised as someone caught my forearm in their hand. The flash of purple hair swung around as Yoruichi leapt up and crouched on top of my leg. We stayed in the position, staring each other down before I retracted my leg. She fell easily and let go of my arm.

"I heard you were causing a bit of a rampage here." I looked around feeling the first sign of guilt as a few of the members were groaning as they were getting up. "What caused all this?"

"I needed to blow off some steam."

"Uhuh - You've never taken that much steam off on other people."

I ducked my head at the solid gold that was looking at me. She only sighed, and ordered a few observers to help get those groaning treatment. Yoruichi's fist came colliding with my head, before she wrapped around my shoulders and tugged me away. We wandered down the hall with her dragging me along slightly. It was very awkward to walk with your head so tilted.

"I just got angry." I was trying to get out of this type of punishment that she was giving me. It only tightened her non-obvious punishment around my neck. "I apologize."

Her arm came from my shoulders. We continued walking as I wrung out my neck and shoulders. She looked over her shoulder at me, and with a once in a lifetime serious look stated, "Next time you're angry, come and get me. Or Kisuke - Your level is above almost everyone else in the division. Did you forget you were a lieutenant?"

"It may have slipped my mind, yes."

"Don't forget that, Yuko. I know that you were pulling your strength but even letting a fraction slip could have caused much more damage." She slapped my cheek before I could give another apology, and her smirk came back into fashion. "Your skills in kido and hakuda alone are enough to get you a captaincy."

I sighed and realized suddenly that she was taking me over to where the beginner onmitsukido members were training. She didn't respond to any of my questioning looks but just continued forward. I settled to realize that she would at least come to answer the question in her own time. As we neared the fresh souls that were going through forms, she did indeed answer my question. Her long thin finger pointed out a small girl that near the front.

She was pretty tiny, with everyone looming over her childlike form. Children only entered if they had a decent score on their aptitude test. One of her parents was probably also already a member. It was still uncommon to get a child so young; particularly a girl. Though women existed in the onmitsukido, much like in the Gotei 13, it was still heavily male orientated. She stuck out like a sore thumb between her age and her gender.

But her form was nearly copied to perfection. It was already near the end of the training, were most would be tired, but she was using all of her force to keep as perfect as possible. She quivered slightly as she took a step, but she took a look at the sensei and then replicated the move. When the time was called, the other males in the room groaned and immediately began to rub at their muscles and were stretching out. In silence, she slipped into a split and went about her business.

I smiled at the peaceful look Yoruichi was giving her. It was probably nice to know that there was someone that was similar to her. It wasn't often that souls found counterparts, whether that would be in skills or in the processes of training. Yoruichi had probably felt isolated with her interest in becoming a captain and hakuda, where most girls probably would have simply wanted to marry. Now there was another girl that she could foster.

"The future, Yuko." The words came out in nothing more than a whisper. I turned to the girl that was now walking out of the room. She kept to herself, ignoring a few comments from the men around her.

"How long since you've noticed her?"

"Her application came through a few weeks ago. Been curious since."

"We'll keep an eye out on her."

Yoruichi merely nodded and we made our way back to the main barracks. So Yoruichi also thought of such things; the idea of leaving an imprint somewhere. Maybe that was part of the reason she was so adamant in becoming captain. A demonstration to others that this was what women could do if they wanted to do it, when there were still so many stuck on the more traditional path.

 _How revolutionary~_

 _You too, Ayake-sama._

 _This coming from the spider that still calls me a child._

 _You'll always be my child._

 _You're me, Kumo._

 _Fine… Until you reach bankai._

 _Done._

Kumo had stayed quiet on the topic after I had asked if I could do Kisuke's training program. I never brought it up again and his adamant refusal, saying it wasn't the correct way of achieving and connecting with me, and neither did he. We had simply left the topic alone with the concept that one day I would control the whole of his abilities. If Kumo was mentioning bankai, then something was up.

I had finally accomplished it. I had succeeded in getting Kyoraku-taicho to do a little spar against me. What made it even more impressive was that I had also gotten Ukitake-taicho to join in, as well. Due to the power difference, they had both sworn not to release into shikai, but they had allowed me to. In retrospect, it was probably the dumbest the decision I had made since walking into squad eleven.

I jumped back from the shallow knick that was cut across my cheek. Gritting my teeth, I sucked in much needed air through my nose. I had sparred a few times against Ukitake-taicho when I had been in the division, but it had mainly been for teaching purposes. Now with him focused more on actually landing hits the fight was very different.

My eyes flickered over at the two. Was the difference that much? I was much lither than them both, and my flashstep was always one upping them. I had gotten a few cuts and strokes on them, but it was clear that I was running out of energy much faster than them. Well, it was two on one, and they had an amazing team work built into their fighting. They knew each other's movements very well. Even still I didn't think I would be able to hold my own even if it was just one of them.

 _Lucky_.

They had both come at me at an angle. I jumped, and when their swords knocked together, I landed on top of the cross. I snagged Kyoraku-taicho's chin as I swipped my hand up, and then doing a no handed cartwheel off of the swords I had gotten a kick to Ukitake-taicho's back. The two men clattered together for a moment, but Kyoraku-taicho helped Ukitake-taicho settle himself just as I was coming at them again.

"Hadou 33: Blue fire, crash down."

I spun and slashed through the sudden kido spell that had been launched at my back. I grounded my feet and extended my arms out, trying to erect a wall in front of the more capable captains behind me. I could hear their shuffling as they were adjusting. There were a couple of sighs. From relief or from frustration I wasn't sure, but it didn't make me feel any better. Their swords slinked away.

"I had heard that my two students were fighting, so I got curious."

My body shuddered at the voice, and as the smoke cleared I made out the figure of Yamamoto Genryusai. He may not have been the tallest of men, but his presence was enough to overwhelm everything. His reiatsu burned as I felt it come to brush up against me, and I quivered from just a jolt of it.

He looked old, with his face wrinkled and his hair turned white. Although he was bald, he had long eyebrows and a very long beard, which he kept tamed with a few placing of ribbon criss crossing it down. The visage of an old and wise fighter, through the criss-cross scars on his scalp and the big shihakusho and draping haori that was supposed to cover up a shriveling body. He kept his eyes closed, but I didn't even want him to open them.

Everything about his appearance was a lie. His kido had been too strong, so much that I had felt the reverberation going through my entire arm as I cut through it, and his voice too loud. I knew that his cane covered his zanpakuto, but it did nothing to offset the tremendous energy he put off. It wasn't even his reiatsu, so much as his very being. He walked too steady and with too much purpose to be old. I had seen old, and I had seen shrunken. The man was nothing like those that were quivering in the outer districts.

I sunk down to my knee and resealed Kumo immediately, laying him in front of me. In the presence of the man that had started the Gotei 13, however dubious I was about how it worked and ran, everyone had to acknowledge him. I gritted my teeth slightly. I had taken a personal blow not two days ago. I had not envisionaged meeting him at all. Not until I was wearing the haori I sought after.

 _He puts me on edge too, Ayake-sama._

 _Damn well should. The man started his own war._

"Yama-jii did you really need to come here?" Kyoraku-taicho had stepped forward slightly and it helped to brush off the spitting flames of reiatsu that were coming at me.

 _He must be doing that on purpose, Ayake-sama._

 _Yes… I think it's some sort of test._

 _How will you fair?_

 _…_ _I have no idea what he's testing._

I put my hand out and stopped Kyoraku-taicho from coming even further. I felt the pound of his gaze on the top of my head, but as I put more pressure on his ankle he stepped back slightly. I had missed what the captain commander had said in response, but I knew that it was not addressed at me. I clenched my teeth again at the snap of heat. When I breathed it in, it burst my innards into flames. I kept my position, the heat working from the inside out. There were a few steps coming forward from the man that had tempted me into fighting against him.

"I was curious what soul made my two students draw their swords, if only in little spar. What is your name?"

"Ayake Ichiyuko, fuku-taicho of the second division… sir."

"I see." The reiatsu flickered away and I huffed in a few breathes. I knew he could hear it. He was standing only a step away, but he made no signs. He made no apologies. Whatever he had been trying to do, I had endured through it. "Pick up your zanpakuto."

As I rose with Kumo in my hands the release of pressure made me falter. I widened my stance and placed my head down so as to focus on getting my blood pumping again. For a moment I had also imagined it had all burned away, but then I was able to breathe and the light-headedness faded. If there was one thing, the captain commander made no comment on my weakness, and it was a silver-lining in that personality of his. He knew the extremes of his own power, and he didn't take it lightly when he released even a smidgen of it. I could be thankful for that.

"What type of soul are you?" He finally asked.

I rose my head and became aware of the environment for the first time. The air brushed again a new, and the sun felt like an ice shard compared to the heat I had tried to accustom myself to. Both Kyoraku-taicho and Ukitake-taicho were behind their old sensei. Both with an unamused face as they processed what was going on.

I finally got his words through my brain. I narrowed my eyes and then relaxed them before I brought my head to stare at the man. His head shifted slightly, and he acknowledged the look with just that. I wondered vaguely how many actually even attempted to look the man in his face.

"I believe that's a bit of a difficult question, Sou-taicho."

"Is it?" The cane that held his zanpakuto disappeared and he grasped his sheath into his hands. I watched as the metal of his blade slowly became visible. When it hung by his side, he proceeded, "why is that Ayake Ichiyuko?"

 _Tread carefully, Ayake-sama._

 _The guy's sending test after test at me…. This is what I get for being friendly with captains._

I shifted and clenched Kumo in my hand. It was my only firm grasp onto reality, as I felt somewhat thurst back to the day of the entrance exam. It not only tested your physical ability, but your psycological and philosophical reasoning as well. I had just passed the physical, and now I was on to the second half.

"I think it would depend on whether or not you're asking for my definition of self, or if your asking about others' definition of myself, sou-taicho."

His head cocked again, and his beard moved more than his mouth. "Would you consider the answers vastly different?"

"Neither I nor the people around me can come to interpret the whole of the person that I am. Though they may come to understand me and I may come to understand myself, as I change so to will the understandings that are created."

"That is indeed an interesting answer." My arms quivered as I saw him draw his sword out to the front. I glanced down at my own blade and then back up to him. "Come."

I flicked myself briefly over towards the now gruesomely worried expressions of my friendly captains, and to the Chojiro-fuku-taicho. The fuku-taicho didn't so much look surprised as apprehensive at this collision. It was an interesting expression to have given the fact that the Sou-taicho did not give housecalls to any Shinigami. All came to his feet, and all the captains to his meeting room, with the fuku-taichos tagging along sometimes.

"Stop wasting time, girl."

I got up my sword up in proper stance and then edged it sharper. He held one hand to my two. I nearly snorted at the amount of indifference I could see in his posture. I charged at him at full speed, and I clattered my sword against him. He swept me around, and as I came out on the other side the flat side of his sword came towards my reer. I could feel it more than see it. I swept around and blocked his faux swing. He hadn't even turned around to face me.

 _What a horrible guy._

"Was that your full strength, child?"

"No." The man turned on me swiftly and I got a glance at his red eyes. "How could it be my full strength when I don't even know what it is yet?"

"Explain."

"I don't have bankai."

His sword disappeared into his sheath and the cane came back. He rested his two hands on top of it and proceeded to just look at me. His eyes had fallen shut again, as if they had opened in offense that I hadn't taken him seriously. I had gone at him with my strongest swing, but my strength wasn't zanjustu anyway. There was no way it could have been my full strength.

"Even with a bankai you wouldn't touch more than my feet, child…. Perhaps not even then. – Though, I will admit your answer is, again, very interesting."

 _What a truly horrible man… A-_

 _Calm you temper Ayake-sama._

I looked towards the ground in a small bow of my head and sheathed Kumo. The man passed by me, and then his presence was gone. I sunk down to my knees, sweat suddenly dripping out from every single pour of my body. I wanted to slip into the ground and welded with it, disappearing for life. I would never be free under that man's gaze, and now it had somehow fashioned on to me.

Ukitake-taicho's hand set onto my shoulder and glanced to see his warm smile, though small in comparision to some of the ones I had seen before. "You held yourself together well, Yuko-chan…. Better than how some deal with it."

"Yare~ Yama-jii is still so harsh."

I stumbled around for words that had grown crisp on my tongue. "He was testing me."

"Yes. He was." I clung heavily onto Ukitake-taicho's arm as he leveraged me up. It was a small consolation that I knew that I was being tested. I hadn't wanted it in the first place. "You did very well though, if you were to ask us."

"Did I?"

"Interesting is probably the only nod of acknowledgement you'll receive."

 _Damnit._

"I don't want to touch his feet…."

"Yuko-chan?"

I turned my head over to Kyoraku-taicho who had called out for me. We were still walking over to the veranda, so it was obvious why they had heard me. They were walking so close, trying to soothe away the flickers of the captain commander's reiatsu.

I bowed my head back down and watched as my foot lazily slide across the grass. "I don't want to look at the soles of his feet."

Ukitake-taicho let out a hum, and positioned me better. I saw the way that his hair moved so that he could look over at Kyoraku-taicho. They were having some sort of conversation with their eyes no doubt. The two were good at reading each other like that, but they said nothing.


	32. Chapter 31

I shuffled down into my covers and snuggled into my pillow. I felt the strings in my back snapping and groan of my muscles as they finally stopped supporting my weight. I stretched about, and then crawled into the abyss of sleep. I needed this.

I opened my eyes to the Kumo's web, and groaned. Huffing I fell back. Of all times to drag me into my inner world, he had to pick the night that I could actually felt like I was in full sleep mode. It was true that my body would probably feel rejuvenated, but now my mind would be awake. A tired mind in an energetic body was the worst situation.

"I didn't call you." Kumo came out from the shadows, and came to rest his head above me. My eyes lingered on the way that the shadows slipped back from his body. "Something is wrong in your inner world Ayake-sama. That is why you are here."

"What do you mean?"

"The shadows are growing larger towards the back of the web. Sometimes I find it hard to come out of them. – I'm sure you noticed just now."

I nodded in affirmation and sat up again. The place looked the same as any other time that I had come in here, but if Kumo was really noticing a difference then it wasn't a good sign. The spider chittered slightly and settled his body on the webs, causing me to jostle just a bit. With him much closer, my hand caressed at the brittle hairs on his face. Spiders do have an off putting look, but he was Kumo.

"Does it have something to do with my bankai training?"

"No. Bankai training does not effect the inner world. If anything the result would be that our connection would grow more in tandem, but you must have noticed that sometimes our connection breaks."

I had. It was only once of twice but Kumo's words had fizzled out and I had missed the meaning of a sentence because of it. I looked behind him at the shadow that he had come out from. It did look more menacing then I remembered it being, and the way that it stretched as he came towards me was certainly not normal.

"I'll talk with Kisuke about it."

"That man and his obsession."

"It's turned out to be pretty useful, no?" I leaned up against one of Kumo's legs and wrapped my arms around it as if in a hug. It was the only way to comfort a ginormous spider. "I'm sure he'll have something to say…. At the very least he'll think of something."

There was a huge puff of air by my body, and I was just glad that I hadn't been sent flying. "He has been a good friend for you…. I used to worry about you."

"Worry?"

"Though my vision is not the best, I use other senses to help me navigate… Even still the shadows that I was born into were very suffocating. - I wondered how can, I help this child that cannot help herself."

"That's how you've always taught me."

"Exactly, Ayake-sama… You must train through hard work to achieve all that you want. If bankai is what you seek then it'll be found at the end of a hard long road."

I could feel the pull back to my bed and I knew that Kumo could also feel it. His leg pushed me up from the webs and slightly away from his body. "I'll be good enough, Kumo."

"One day… Until then, let us work hard together to prepare you."

"I'd like nothing better."

I had gotten to Kisuke's office about a week later. He had admantely denied the existence of anything wrong in my second dose of blood work. In a new condensening manner that he had adopted he had pat my head gently and leant down just a touch to look at my eyes. I swatted at the arm in indignation and glowered.

"Will you stop doing that?"

"You're so worried Yuko-chan." He tapped a finger to his chin. He thin fingers flipped through several stacks of paper that he had shoved over to the side of his desk. How he found anything was beyond me. It was a complete mess in here. "Look at the before and after."

The blood samples were completely different, with a cells being dark in one and then clear in the other. Kisuke proclaimed that the color differentiation was because of the reiatsu which had a component that could warp the cells so that they caused a neurological reaction. I couldn't follow the entire explination, some of the science being beyong my grasp, but basically it came down to the fact that whatever reiatsu that had been forced into my body was now gone.

I sighed and ran a hand over the top of my head. It was good to know that I was really healthy, with nothing foreign in my body but it didn't help to explain the others problems that were occurring.

"I've been having trouble talking to Kumo." Kisuke's eyes came to a halt; that excited quiver not there. "It's very infrequent but sometimes I miss out on some words, and he told me recently that the shadows are getting stronger."

It was not normal to talk about one's inner world, just like one simply didn't go around talking about their shikai or bankai. It was so personal, but unlike demonstrating shikai skills, the inner world was a direct reflection of the user. That vulnerability was something that no one wanted to face. I felt the need to divulge it. The fact was important to the way I had been feeling a bit ill at ease with the situation.

Kisuke jotted down a something down on a sheet of paper, and then slipped it into his robe. His eyes stayed on the floor as he continued to ponder away before turning towards me. "This has happened recently?"

"Yes."

"How recently?"

"Two or three weeks ago."

"The effect of the reiatsu was long gone by that point…. It's not possible for the hollow's reiatsu to have effected you down to your own gene pool." I nodded. It made sense. Whatever the actual impact of that hollow's reiatsu was, it was more superficial than anything else. "Perhaps its just stress?"

"Can that happen?"

His gray eyes covered over and he nodded. "I believe so."

"It's possible then. - They rejected the proposal, and then I've been working so much lately."

"And your meeting with Sou-taicho."

I shivered just at the mention of that. I still couldn't really get rid of his feeling around me. "Please don't remind me of that."

"Sorry, sorry." Kisuke backed up with a smile and scratched at his cheek. Good old Kisuke acting awkward again. Whenever he wasn't in science mode his confidence slipped, but his leadership skills were getting better. "How's the bankai coming along?"

I dumped my head swerving a bit. "Nothing at all. I have to go one step at a time."

There was a laugh. Kisuke had made his way over to his chair and was twirling around in it. With all the funding that he got, the only personal item that he bothered to buy was a chair that spun around. It was probably just to distract himself when he got a bit frustrated. I narrowed my eyes, and flung myself over. Kisuke stuck his arm out to steady the chair so that we didn't topple over, and then we were both twirling around.

 _Kisuke… You're the absolute best._ I chanted to myself and let him cradle me slightly, as he used his legs to swerve us around. I tightened my hands around his top, and then sat back. I used a bit too much thrust, and the chair toppled to the side, but we just laughed together at the mess we created.

"You're always welcome to ta—"

I shoved my hand over his mouth and he looked over at me with blinking eyes. I narrowed my own and gave him a bland look. I smacked my hand down, which created nothing more than a suction around his lips, and then pulled back. His own eyes rolled across subconsciously to try and see the movement. I lifted up from the ground, and pointed the finger down at him.

"Don't offer that to me. The last time Kumo spent two hours berating me just for being tempted."

He rubbed the back of his head as he came to sat, and gave me that wide twitching smile. His nervous dog look always made me smile. Suddenly there was a chime and we both peeked up over the desk to see that the clock had gone off. We were probably nothing more than two sets of eyes looking over the masses of paper.

 _Ayake-sama, you have an appointment._

"Oh…" I sprung up and tugged Kisuke with me so that I could explain as we walked to the door. "I've got to get going - Got a student to look after."

"Student?"

I smirked down at his bemused mimicking of my expression. I nodded, and let go so that I wouldn't accidently take him with me. "Yoruichi's fault."

"You two are always picking up strays."

"You should try it Kisuke. - You might really enjoy teaching."

The man waved me out, denying with a few sentences that he just wasn't cut out for mentoring. We said our goodbyes; him shutting the door to his office and me wandering down the hall. Shaking my head, I began to shunpo since I was going to be late. The training had already begun, as that was the onmitsukido way.

 _If that were true, Kisuke, I wouldn't be here today._

 _Perhaps you should tell him that, Ayake-sama… Although I deny that fact. You had enough potential on your own._

 _You and your pride, Kumo._

 _Your pride too._

I didn't bother mentioning the fact that it was Kumo that forced me to go after my now good friend. Certainly I didn't learn everything from Kisuke and I had a good base by the time I had met him. But he had contributed so directly to my growth being able to pick out areas for me to work on. Feeding me with all of his knowledge and curiosity. I wondered when he would see that he teaching style was just different than the rest.

I arrived at the training grounds. Nothing more than cold cement slabs in an open courtyard. It was the first time that the beginner class was going to be doing sparring of this sort, and Yoruichi wanted me to keep an eye out on the little girl that she had noticed. The captain could have easily snuck out of whatever work she had to do, but for some reason she had decided to stay serious and get her work done.

I could easily pick her out from the group with her stature. She moved well for someone so new to the format. I had gotten her file from the cat captain herself. Her mother was no one of consequence. Her father, however, had been part of the onmitsukido for over fifty years already, which was a very strong record to have. It explained the natural talent she seemed to exude and the air that she carried herself around with, even with her youth.

Slowly, I maneuvered away from the ceiling that I had been standing on. The leader that was directing was quick to notice my attention, but I waved it away. He had to keep proceeding with what he was doing. No point in getting everyone to stop. So, not calling any attention to myself, I came to the front of the class and sunk into a cross-legged position.

The ritualistic every man or woman for themselves began. It was a sloppy show of technique, even for beginners. I narrowed my eyes at this. I'd be having so serious words with the teacher at this rate. A few stood out for their precision, and another few for their determination trying to work through their movements. It was just very messy.

I saw her body swerve and duck and jump. For one so tiny she could really pack it into a punch when she needed it. Yoruichi had a good eye for noticing the important ones. I let out an impressed noise as she did a strong combination kick following straight into some flips. Who knows how long her father had been going at her to learn all those things.

"Time." The instructor commanded and everyone jogged into their designated place in their rows. He then turned over to me.

I slowly stood. The man bowed and started walking backwards signifying the change of position. Yoruichi hadn't told me to teach, but if I was going to be here anyway I might as well take up a class. I had taught some of the more advanced classes before, and having taught Byakuya few times now I had caught a bit of a bug.

There was a soft mummur and I could see the sudden eagerness in their bodies. Some were leaning slightly out of bounds to get a better view. Our positions by now, Yoruichi and mine own, were so well solidified. I had overheard someone whispering about how they thought the second division would crumble without our leadership. We had laughed about it calling it an over-exaggeration, but Yoruichi added that the Sou-taicho had even praised our work. My shuddering had gotten only a few more snickers and a pounding at my back.

"Kata form 1."

All the bodies fell forward into stance. I began to walk through the columns as I called out the sequential numbers. I tapped slightly on a few limbs and helped to straight out posture as I continued through. There was one uniform sound at least, so that meant that it was the freestyle taijustu that was sloppy. I guess, I couldn't expect a focus on form from beginners. Either they did that or they didn't using the energy to focus more on power and landing hits. There were very rarely any that could do both.

I came around the young girl that Yoruichi eyed. She took in a breath as I tapped at her ankle to spread her form out. She adjusted automatically sliding it back and following through with the next step. Her head ducked shyly to make sure that she noted the new form and carried it through to the next move in the kata.

"Head up." I tucked my finger under her chin. Without any force on my part her head jerked up, but I could feel the heat that had come from her cheeks. I swallowed back a snicker.

 _So nervous~_

I moved away, but I felt her eyes stay tucked on me. The burn slowly subsided as I wandered far enough away from her. I peaked back to see that she had reverted to looking back straight ahead. She's a focused one, alright.

When I got back to the front the kata was over. I gave my notes over to the teacher whilst the members stood erect. I gave pause to that, and he explained that they were waiting for my call for a break. They were training to endure through even their most selfish desires. Having not gone through it that rigidly I wasn't aware that it had gone so far as refusing to get water. I swung my hand and they immediately dispersed over to the sides to get something to drink.

"You'll need to go over combination attacks much more, and run a few practices to help them transition into using the taijustu more fluidly… I didn't like what I saw before. It was too sloppy, even for a beginner's class."

"Yes ma'am."

I sighed. It wouldn't help to point out particular people I thought were doing better. It would only serve to isolate them. As much as I wanted to use examples, I didn't think that it'd be beneficial at this point. My eyes glanced over to the girl that was already walking back to the grounds. Only a few others had joined, but the majority were still hanging towards the wall.

 _She's desperate to get noticed._

 _Should you give in to her, Ayake-sama?_

 _Not sure._

I eyed her and her rigid form. She was already standing back at uniform position with her hands tucked behind her lower back and her legs hip-width apart. Her chin formed a nice rigid line, and she was staring directly ahead. As she was wearing the uniform, including the mask, I couldn't make out her features, but I thought I had seen the fabric moving. I cocked my head. Perhaps she was mumbling something to herself. I had done that a few times to try to get rid of the wait time.

"Spider?"

I turned to the teacher that was looking at me. "Yes?"

"With your permission I'd liked to speak freely."

"Go ahead."

"I'd heard some rumors." At the quirk of my eyebrow he rushed to get through the sentence. "It's nothing bad… It's about the policy reform."

 _Ah._

Yoruichi and I had gone through it time and time again, and we had decided to cut a more narrow definition of our mission statement. It limited us to only a few specific tasks and took a bunch of tasks off our plate. More specifically, while the onmitsukido and the Shinigami were working hand in hand here, the jobs were more situationally defined than before. It came from the learning curve of how to balance the two corps and their separate but interlinked duties.

"What sort of rumors are these?"

"The cuts to the ranks of onmitsukido."

My lower lip slowly poked out and a shook my head. Beneath my closed lids, I rolled my eyes. "Absolutely not. We've created no new limitations to entering the onmitsukido. Feel free to extend that message."

The girl was watching us and I didn't need to stop staring at this man to know that. She looks when she thinks she won't get caught. I stuck my hand out and I beckoned her over. I turned my head as I noticed the hestitency in her movements, and raised my eyebrow with another flick of my fingers. She stumbled the first couple of steps and then made a very rigid show of jogging over, with her fore arms swinging at perpendicular angles and her knees raising high. She kneeled as soon as she was at my feet.

 _Yoruichi will go nuts teasing this one._

 _Oh yes she will, Kumo._

I beckoned her up with the same flick of my fingers. She shot up like a tree, and came into attention. I made a show of scrutinizing her, seeing if she would squim. Her eyes did it all for me, and I could imagine the deep blush that was coming to her face. She didn't like attention and yet everything she did received it. She just wanted to make a good showing.

"Name?"

"S— Soi fon."

"Good. Work hard."

Her eyes came to peer up at me. They shimmered with something I couldn't comprehend completely. There was a tiny mist there, and I saw the way that the fabric around her mouth shuddered, hearing the smallest of gasps. I couldn't physically show her, knowing that it would put her in an awkward place with the rest of the class, but I came to understand the way that she was watching me. I nodded my head, flashing her a tiny smile.

"I'll be keeping an eye on the class." I had turned back to the teacher by this point but she was hearing it. I wonder if she would figure out what I meant by that statement. I flickered my eyes over but she hadn't move to register anything. "I expect good things from it."

"Thank you, Spider."

"Train them well, Ki."


	33. Chapter 32

I was stood next to Sojun-san as we were talking. We had stopped somewhere just after the door, caught in our conversation, having not taken seats since we didn't want to talk through Yamada. The fourth division was already sat in his chair attempting to look endearing. He had previously been scolded for missing the meeting two weeks ago without reason, but he only checked his fingers as Chojiro-san was talking to him.

Our conversation broke apart when the door came open and a new reiatsu came through. My eyes narrowed involuntarily. _So Shinji's finally picked then_.

The man that walked through looked to maybe be around twenty-five in human years. He was a tall and leanly muscled man. His brown hair fell naturally in a few waves, and was parted towards the right, with fringe falling onto his forehead. His brown eyes were enlarged by a pair of thick black framed glasses. There was a peaceful smile on his face, and he looked around curiously, tentatively taking a few steps in.

"I apologize for disturbing… This is the lieutentant's meeting place, yes?"

"You're in the right place." Sojun-san immediately stepped forward as the first representative. He had one of the longest tenures as lieutenant anyway. "Kuchiki Sojun of the sixth."

"Aizen Sosuke of the fifth division." He bowed back and then flickered his eyes over to me.

 _Looks pleasant enough._

I bowed slightly and introduced myself properly. He looked a bit surprised and I saw him eye my frame. I was rather small to come from the second division, so I merely shrugged it off and teased him about his look. He gave a small laugh and apologized for the indirect insult.

 _There's something clinging to his reiatsu, Ayake-sama._

Kumo had a very keen seen of sense. It made up for the lack of his eyesight, for even though he had four eyes he never used them primarily. Instead he was aware of reiatsu, touch, and sound. They were traits that had somewhat translated to me, but it was mainly Kumo that would pick them up and then told me about it.

Like all Shinigami, you learn how to mask over your face so that people didn't know what was going on in your head. With the type of operations I had to carry out, I had trained the habit a bit more than most. If something pertained to the person I was talking about, and was not a response to a thought I had, I had to carry the conversation like normal. The perfected mask that Kyoraku-taicho had tried to teach me long ago.

 _What, Kumo?_

 _I am unsure… It does not feel threatening though._

 _Maybe he had a mission before this._

 _Perhaps._

The lieutenant meeting moved along swiftly. There was only one break out when Mashiro started whining and Hiyori threw few chairs at her to get her to stop. Those two just needed to learn how to ignore one another. I had sighed and then forcibly dragged the smaller girl back from jumping across the table. All the lieutenants had to childishly move seats so that the quick-tempered girl stayed by my side. Aizen hadn't stood out in any particular fashion, staying quiet as he watched as how we interacted. Much like how I had wanted my first meeting to go.

I was walking back to the division when I heard his customary greeting. I lifted my head up to see Shinji crouched on top of a wall. He arms were drapped over his knees and hung down relaxedly. His head was facing up towards the sun, with his normal deadpan look was there, but then he eyes slinked down to me with a smirk growing.

"Yo to yourself. It's been a bit."

"Been caught up in tha office… Ya know bein' captain an' all"

"I'm sure." I crossed my arms over my chest as he slunk his way over towards me.

He sighed and scratched at his head, before collecting me a bit closer. He forced me into a walk. It wasn't that odd, but there was a certain tension that normally wasn't there. The way his eyes had narrowed down in thought sometimes while we walked was enough evidence to know that he wasn't happy with his thinking. But there was also the wrinkles by his mouth from clenching too hard, and the stiffness in his shoulders to add on to it. His hand was also snagging a bit harder than normal.

"What's up?"

"Wha' ya think o' ma new lieutenant?"

"Aizen?" My eyes narrowed as I tried to read the look in his eye. He brushed away as much evidence as possible but he wouldn't be asking at all if he wasn't worried. "Are you worried you have the wrong guy?"

"Nah. Jus' curious wha' ya thought."

"He seemed pleasant enough. Easy to get along with. - The other lieutenants got along fine with him."

I took my arm away from his hold and rubbed a bit at the place. He had suddenly clenched down on. It wasn't really anything I couldn't manage but it was unexpected and had me a bit in shock. Shinji never physically hurt anyone, barring his odd relationship with Hiyori. He got a bit hands on, but never more than an arm over the shoulders. He could get frustrated and his temper would flare, but he had never taken it out on anyone else.

"You want to tell me what's going on?"

His eyes pleaded that I would forgive him for the small lapse in strength and I brushed it off. It didn't really hurt, anyway. When that was done, he sighed and looked off to the side. He seemed to focus on something and then he came back to me.

"I'm jus' really wantin' to make sure he's good."

"That's not like you Shinji. You picked him yourself… Surely you're not doubting that?"

"Not me I'm doubtin'." He closed his mouth shortly after that.

 _It's Aizen he's doubting? Then why would he pick him if he didn't think the lieutenant could keep up?_

Whatever he was thinking he was going to keep to himself. It seemed to focus on Aizen but it could have been something else and it was coming through. Perhaps, he was just worried about his choice. It was his first major one as a captain, and the trust probably wasn't cemented firmly between the two of them. Shinji had been asking for a judge of his character, so it probably really had to do with that.

"I really think he'll be fine in the position. He looks pretty reliable."

The captain's eyes narrowed slightly and then in a flash whatever conversation we were having disappeared. "When ya gettin' ya promotion? If ya did, I'd get ta see ya more."

"You only want to distract me."

"Ya got a pretty face fer distractin' me… Be good to 'ave somethin' nice to look at instead of all 'em ol' guys."

I rolled my eyes but we continued on our way to our usual tea house. Odd comments seemed to come from him one after the other throughout the whole time. At some moments he would drift off as he soaked in his tea, steeped in his own thoughts. It was frustrating to know that he wouldn't trust me with whatever was on his mind, but I guess that's what made it a more personal matter.

I carried out the tenion after our tea break and we departed. I stared at his meandering form as it was walking back towards his division. I sincerely hoped that it was just stress of a new job that was weighing down on his shoulders like that. He looked a bit more hunkered down than normal. I couldn't get those dead eyes away from my thoughts, either. Even when he smirked or smiled, it could do nothing to displace that center of thought in his eyes.

I sighed and looked up towards the sky. I took a small moment to roll out my shoulders and rub out the knot in my neck. _I really hope this is just a phase._

 _You didn't tell him about the strings, Ayake-sama._

 _…_ _He looked bothered enough, and I wasn't sure if he needed to hear that. Besides, I thought we came to the conclusion that it wasn't anything perculiar._

 _I think he would have liked to hear it._

 _I think I would have just been confirming something he wanted to hear himself. No matter what I'd say he'd come to the same conclusion about it._

I stretched and then shunpoed off. My head was whirling with too much information at once. I breathed in deeply as I went, trying to shake off the odd meetings that I had, had today. I wanted to leave that behind in the empty street, to be swept up away by the wind. I did a few flips through the trees. Let the wind carry it all away as I pushed through.

I flipped down into the clearing and took a few jerking steps back. Kyoraku-taicho's hat moved and he tilted his head backwards. A wide grin spread across his face and he was standing before I caught my balance. I had been so in my thoughts and trying to shed them, that I had paid no attention to the environment around me.

His warm arms came around me, and I felt his head nearing to my cheek. I pushed against his chest, trying to figure away out of his grip. He fastened tighter. For someone that refused to do anything but lay around or drink all day, he's body was still very built and strong. Additionally, it was embarrassing to realize that as the fuku-taicho of the second division that specialized in this, I could find no way out.

My fingers had snuggled into the hair on his chest when I had been pushing against it. He kept the top of his shihakusho opened wide that my forearm, from elbow to wrist, to stretch across the widest point without touching any fabric. His skin was warm beneath my touch, and I slowly curled my fingers into it. Not really gripping or tugging, but solidifying that he was there. The hairs tickled slightly, but it just gave him more presence in my head.

My shoulder was also up against his chest, but it was the way that my hand slide through the hairs that I was fascinated with. His skin reacted under my touch, creating a series of goose bumps wherever I skimmed over. The tips of my fingers pulsed up and down with his heart beat, and the tension in my shoulders eased. I could feel life from him.

"Yuko-chan."

I blinked several times, feeling the wasp of warm energy curling and surging up my stomach. His lips were skimming over my ear, brushing a wave of hot air across the earlobe. I could faintly register the slickened skin where he had placed a searing kiss on my cheek.

My heart richocheted. It hadn't done this since the day in the hospital room, and I could have sworn that had to do with the fact that I needed comfort and I could have taken it from any one at at that point. I had also been slightly delirious, having just woken up from a medically induced sleep. Yet I had been so keen on the touch of his skin that I hadn't even noticed the kiss, or that fact that he was still holding me tightly to his body.

"Get off me you pervert." It was the first time I was actually calling him that to his face. Although I had said it several times in my head, I had never admitted to it outloud.

"But Yuko-chan is so warm and cuddly~" He twisted me around, trapping my arm against his chest as he cradled me there. The position was a bit awkward so I was forced to bring my other hand up and around his shoulder to give me a bit of leverage. "If I let go now, I'll never be able to hold you."

I took a few deep breathes to try and gain some control. My face had flushed and I could feel the heat rising to the rest of my head. He smelt of sake again, but it was an after scent to his musk and the cut grass that he smelt like. I slowly leaned my head in, and my hand slowly clunched onto the fabric at his shoulders.

 _I'm drowning_.

 _Keep breathing, Ayake-sama._

 _…_ _Kumo._

 _Breathe._

I buried my nose somewhere in to the planes of his skin. Almost as if commanded from the press of it, he slide us around so that I could get my other arm around him. It slide, trailing underneath his two haoris, and clung onto his back. The planes of his muslces contracted slightly, and I made out the movements from his back. His head came and cuddled down against my hair, and I moved with him as he took a deep breath.

 _Kumo…_

 _You need comfort Ayake-sama. A comfort that I can't provide._

My eyes fluttered shut and I slowly dropped into his warm body. From the haze of heat stroke I could make out him moving around. His arms traced over my frame as he slowly collected me into bridal style carry. He got us both to the ground, and I was positioned in between his legs. His hands left me briefly and I found myself groaning and following them as they retracted somewhere to his body.

I awoke in the same position, being cradled by the man. I made out the color of black first and thought that I was back in my room, but then I saw a few hairs curling over and I remembered where I was. He still sat erect, with one arm pressing down onto my waist, with his hand playing idly with a few blades of grass. His other was around my shoulder, to help me stay in position against his chest.

"You silly girl."

The arm around my shoulders slipped so that he could press against my back. I felt his fingers run there for a minute before stopping and becoming a firm reminder that I was letting him touch me. I looked further up and shrunk underneath his intense gaze. His lips quirked into a wispy smile, but it was his eyes. I couldn't move from underneath the look that was peering down at me as if to look straight into my brain. His eyes flickered slightly, stroking against every part of my face. As he went I felt the blood running up to my face, but I could only wring out my hands to try and get rid of the anxiety.

"What happened?"

"You were very silly Yuko-chan." My eye twitched at the repetition of the line, and I was about to tell him so, but he cut through. "Leaving your reiatsu running like that."

"What?"

"I felt you as soon as you came in the forest. - All over the place again." I watched as he other hand came and pressed down on my stomach. I groaned out at the pressure and thrashed to get out of his hold. "See? I had to stabilize you…. You went into a bit of a haze because of it."

I panted out a few breathes and grabbed onto his hand which he easily gave up to me. I leaned further into his arm and chest as the pain was slowly lessening. "And that was?"

"You've been pooling it all down to your stomach."

 _Kumo?_

 _It's true, Ayake-sama. I've been trying to help you sort it out for the past couple of days now._

We had been training in my inner world, since I couldn't get him to manifest yet. The shadows were still clinging to him at some points, but apparently it had lessened a bit. I had tried to maintain a good sleeping schedule, but it had gotten bit more hectic of the last few days I didn't have that time to recuperate.

Kumo had us infusing reiatsu and pulling it to different sections of the body. I trusted to let him lead me through the training, since we were both set on me achieving bankai. It was just the type of training that I had not expected at all. Reiatsu and reiryoku manipulation were taught in the first years of the academy, and then the emphasis slowly tapered away once the core concepts were grasped. I was a basically building off the first two weeks of lessons, after decades away now.

 _So something went wrong in training then._

 _Yes, and the stress from meeting Shinji amplified the problem._

 _At least I wasn't emitting that sort of frequency through the whole meeting._

 _No, I would have had you leave, Ayake-sama._

Kyoraku was humming something simple under his breath. My mind was slow coming out of the conversation, probably still from the effects of whatever the reiatsu miscontrol had done. I watched the apple in his throat bobble as he swallow.

I looked over to where my hand was tingling to see that he was stroking at the skin. I was half tempted to try and see the difference in the length of his fingers to mine, but I couldn't be bothered to break him from the rhythm that he was going at. My eyes fell closed a bit. My fingers moved slightly and the movement had two of our fingers interlocking.

 _For as much as he's so verbal with his flirting, he's surprising quiet right now._

 _He always seems to surprise you, Ayake-sama._

 _I guess so._

I blinked a few times and then looked back up. Kyoraku-taicho had long wavy, brown hair. My eyes widened, and a panic jolted through my heart. Being electrocuted by it, my whole body fidgeted but it brought his attention at the worst time. My face was horribly flushed again, and due to the shock my eyes had widened significantly. My mouth was a bit slack. That damn spider was making insinuations about brown waved haired child for more than a damn month now. How I had missed it I'd never know.

"Yuko-chan?" His reiatsu settled down upon me and I knew that he had felt the jar in whatever consistency he had created. "If you look at me like that I really won't be able to control myself. Having you in my arms is hard enough."

This was the worst fit of embarrassment that I had even shown him. I felt practically naked with the warmth of his body coming through, and the twine of his fingers. I stumbled after a few words, but he kept increasing the amount of reiatsu he used. Everything must have gone out of whack again. I was doing absolutely fine before this. Why was it now that I was reacting in such a way to everything?

"T… Tell me something." I demanded over the very obvious stutter. That was also a first. _Let me buried in a deep dark whole._

"For you, Yuko-chan, anything."

"Bankai." He blinked several times and a hard set came across his lips. "How'd you train for it?"

"Is that why your reiatsu is like this? - Yare~, you're so determined my lovely Yuko-chan."


	34. Chapter 33

**A/N: Thank you monsterai and animegal1998** **for the reviews! I hope that you both and everyone else continue to enjoy how the story progresses. As usual feel free to leave comments/reviews and tell me how you think the story's going.**

I was born into darkness. I had no concept that light existed. I had no concept of what I looked like. No concept of eyes or legs or webs. I was scared of this world that I lived in, unable to perceive anything but that I could think. How odd was it for it to be so dark here? How odd that I know that I have legs? How odd it is to know that I should be able to do more, to know more? How odd that I knew that more existed outside of this darkness?

The draps slowly opened up, and inch by inch I came to perceive myself through the darkness. I could see my own legs finally, and the small white lines that I was standing on. I called them strings, and I called them eyes. They were tiny whispers that I heard calling out to me from outside my own body. I could make out tiny whispers.

I began to crawl more, learning my own body and my own talents. Every crank of the wheel brought just a bit more light, and I was able to weave a web across the entirety of the area I was in. Slowly; very slowly. I didn't yearn for anything outside of this grey darkness. Yet, there was something else that poked at me, telling me to wait and to prepare. I knew not what I was waiting nor preparing for. My consciousness nudged for me to do it anyway, and so I did.

Then there was a burst. Something seemed to snap in the area I was living in, and there was a flood to my consciousness. I knew her. I knew this poor crying girl that let out wretched sobs. I knew not why she cried, and yet it pained me to hear them through my own body. Her sobs slowly turned to snuffles which turned to dried tears.

Then my world was never dark. The shadows lingered because I never knew light. I found that I did not like it very much, prospering in the shadows. But I was never in darkness. I learned her, studied her, and slowly I came to hear her through a mask. Her voice was sweet and kind. Her thoughts deep and asking the same questions that I had.

I wanted to reply to tell her that I could hear her questions and that I had something of answers. It was only questions that left her turning around in her sleep. She came upon some of her own solutions, ravenously absorbing what she could from this place called an academy. Her hunger consumed her in her treasure hunt, and I could understand. She could not yet perceive her own existence like I could.

"I could teach her that." I thought, but she could not hear me yet. So I waited and watched as she learned. Basked in her pleasure when she perceived. I got frustrated when she did, sometimes having the same troubles, or at times wishing I could help her see what I saw. Glowered when I knew she heard the whispers of the students around her. Snapped strings when her thoughts echoed some of them.

"Don't listen." I cried, but she could not hear that yet either. She was a strong soul, I knew. She was able to wipe the whispers off like I had fought through the darkness. Yet sometimes they held her down. She was alone and she told me to go into something she called an asauchi. That we could be together that way. I didn't want her to be alone anymore.

Even in her memories I saw that she was sometimes alone, because the people around her were lesser. They could not understand the importance of her brain and her soul. Even the one called Chiyo that prevented her from moving on to do something better. No even when surrounded by people that should understand, they couldn't either. That was what I could do though, and ruthlessly I fought to do as she bade me. Together, is what we would be.

Another part of consciousness opened to me and there I was, feeling her touch. Where before I could only hear and see. Now I could receive the sense of touch from her hand and I could sense her reiatsu as it built. She was potent. She was my light, giving me perception, and I was to be her strength. Slowly we crawled together, connecting, and growing stronger. I learnt her, absorbed everything new that I could get.

Even though she did not know me she took excellent care. Such a warm woman, I thought. How could she be so alone? Even in a group of people she was alone. Surely her thoughts were not enough to prevent those from understanding her. Surely a name of a district shouldn't stop those from being around her. My commander was pure and loving. How could she not be when she cried so happily when we met, as if the pieces of the puzzle came together for her like they did for me?

She spoke to me, caressed me, and fed me. She was much better than how I saw some other spirits being treated. She was mine and I was hers. It was something only her intellect could understand. I jeered at the others that she would leave behind one day. She needed a companion, though; the type that would see what I saw in her. The passion and the potential.

She bumped into a young man one day, and I sensed something in him. She could not see it because she kept her head too low, but that look in his eyes was the same. That passion for information in the way that he looked at her absorbing. I found his interest in my master interesting enough. In those light gray eyes, I could see just a slight reflection of me in them. I thought, this is the man to call friend. I called to her hoping that she would hear me, and I broke through the plugs in her ears.

We were speaking and my heart settled. She had come scratching in, and I weaved a net to catch her. We spoke of everything and anything. She voiced everything of her being to me, and I caught her up on everything of mine. We grew, and I could tell in the way that my strings grew stronger and more firm. Her life and her confidence were intimately connected to mine as it should be, so we could only grow together.

My only goal being to never wake to those cries hovering around my ears; for the day she cried with her whole soul would be the day that I was a failure. We pushed through together, and came upon her new division. Why did she keep herself a secret I did not know, but if she wanted to go at her own pace I would let her. She came to push that aside as well, and I marveled at the rapture she took to command me.

I could even come to stand her being around that flirt of a captain if it eased her. For it did, even though she would never admit it. Her reiatsu grew soft around him. Her heart eased just slighty, until she gave enough to him that it was his webbing that cured the ailment and not mine own. I could understand, him giving her something that I couldn't. I could untangle my webs just slightly to let her give herself to him.

I chuckled at the thought. For one that grew around men, she knew nothing of falling in love. She could twist a man if she wanted, I had witnessed it a few times. Yet when it came to love she was as helpless as a baby, having to be proded. So what if I delayed the process just a little bit. I could keep her tied closer to me just for a little bit.

And now…. Now she stood looking at my form. Her eyes glistening as she raised her hand up in front of her eyes, not as a shield but to express the joy. Though there was steam coming from her, and her shihakusho was worn through, and her body was ragged, her energy had yet to fade. The look endeared me more towards her, and I realized how one couldn't not love her.

The form disappeared as she slipped backwards towards the grounds of the training pit her friend Kisuke had built. I cradled her body to my chest as I caught it. There was another step that she had to take. She had to keep building, but she had done it. Everyone would witness her perfection soon. Sooner than I had anticipated, but I could give her to them I supposed.

I laid her back slowly and cuddled my hand up to her cheek. She'd come through in a few minutes. "Shortly Ayake-same."

I was swallowed back into the zanpakuto sealed form where I could continue my watch. Shortly she'd go after her dreams. Shortly she'd challenge the Sou-taicho to a battle of words and wits. Shortly the people would recognize that the girl they called a worthless whore from the Southern 62nd district of Rukongai was going to become a captain.

 _Time is such an interesting thing…_

Time had slipped through my fingers again. Not only had it slipped just now, but it had slipped through a couple of years. I stumbled slightly into the second division. I did my best to erect myself, and was able to get through the entrance courtyard without getting too many suspicious glances. However, it was impossible to get rid of the evidence in my shihakusho.

I looked down at the barely there fabric. Both sleeves were hanging limp by one or two strands of string, although most had been ripped off so it was no more than three-quarters of its length. The sash barely kept the front from falling open, so I had to use my hand to close the widening gap. The back was also flayed, so I could feel the wind dancing there.

I got to the hallway when I finally took a second to breathe. I had been running on fumes since I had left the training bunker. I put my hand onto the wall to stop myself from swaying. My own frame shuddered as I took a particularly deep breath. My eyes glanced over to Kumo that somehow hadn't fallen out yet.

"Yuko?" I peered up to see the frames of both Kisuke and Yoruichi coming down the otherside of the hall. I lifted the hand not on the wall to wave. I don't think I could let go now. I'd probably fall over if I did.

The two made their way over as fast as possible; the worry instantly splattered on their faces. Yoruichi gripped onto my shoulder and hefted me from the wall. I could feel Kisuke's hand wiping against my skin seeing if I had any bleeding injuries. When I had none I pulled back and gripped to my other arm. One would have been enough to carry me, but the two worked together and brought me into captain's quarters, which was just a small off-shoot to the meeting hall Yoruichi had set up.

"What happened? I thought you went to train." I was laid out onto a sofa, and Yoruichi made due with grabbing a few supplies. She started to wipe at the dust that was collected on my face.

"I was."

Kisuke had run off to get some more water, and had me up to get a few drops down. I spluttered at the liquid. Against my dried out tongue, the soddenness was unexpected and it had clenched up my throat. My two friends peered at me a bit worried, but I waved it off. I hustled down into the sofa and let my thoughts peter for a moment.

"Hey." My head bounced against the cushion as Yoruichi smacked down onto my forehead. She crossed her arms and looked at me with that noble look. "Want to tell us how you got like this."

"Hm~~."

Kisuke chuckled and stopped Yoruichi's hand from slapping me again. A wide grin came to his face, and I saw the flash in his eyes. "Accomplished it then?"

Yoruichi looked between the two of us as I nodded back, and then held up my two fingers in a victory sign. The man laughed and rubbed down on my hair, before proceeding to give me a little more water. The cat let out a sigh but the tension of worry drained away since she caught on that it definitely wasn't anything bad.

"What did you accomplish?"

"Bankai."

A smirk made its way across her lips, and she crossed her arms lightly. "Oh? That damn spider finally relented, then?"

 _I resent that remark, Ayake-sama._

 _You should know this about her by now Kumo._

 _You make sure to tell her off._

"Well, he has a few misgivings about that term just now Yoruichi, but yes - He relented."

We proceeded to laugh and conversation flowed out between the three of us. Yoruichi got someone to go to my room and grab a change of clothes, which was the only movement I did. The rest of the time I was spent prostrate on the sofa, with Kisuke by my feet and Yoruichi leaning her head into my stomach. Whenever she did this I rubbed my fingers through her hair unconsciously and she had picked up a bad habit from it. Apparently she started to pester others to do it as well.

We fell into an amicable silence, and rested together. Kisuke was probably thinking about his newest science experiment, and Yoruichi thinking about food from the way that her stomach just growled. My mind only swirled around the bankai that I had released. I'd have to do more training to control it, of course, but my heart was awake from just the knowledge of having gotten there. My eyes slipped closed as I remembered the surge of reiatsu that I had released

 _Thank you Kumo._

 _It was your hard work, Ayake-sama… I thank you._

 _And no more calling me child_

 _I remember._

The door flung open and I saw Soi-fon's face pop from around the end of the sofa by Kisuke. Not much had changed in either the division or Soul Society. Soi-fon was probably the most recent addition and that had happened at least five years ago.

She hadn't changed much minus from a growth spurt. Her frame was obviously going to be a very petite one from the way she was growing up. She kept her navy blue hair short and straight around her chin. Though she had gotten more outspoken, she was fastidious in her duties and upholding a tremendous amount of respect for anyone that was not beneath her and was not Kisuke.

I laughed boisterously the first time she ever complained about the man. It didn't die, even when she had finished talking about him. She claimed it was his laziness that she didn't like, but I had known that it wasn't just that. Many people didn't trust Kisuke because of his outgoing soft attitude mixed with his indesicive looks. Those that knew him well understood that the man wasn't lazy just multi-tasking at all times with his main focus always being his science.

Soi-fon just didn't like him because he didn't take the same care as she did. I did my best to remind her of the fact that he was a third-seat and a decently respected one but she was steadfast at holding him at arms length. I think she did respect him, but it annoyed her that she had.

"Yuko-sama are you alright? There were a few whispers that said you looked injured just now."

I had gotten her to adopt the semi-informality, but just like she was with Yoruichi it was impossible to get her to do anything else. I wasn't held in nearly the same regard as the captain, as Yoruichi had served as a personal tutor for the girl, but I was a close second.

"I'm fine Soi-fon. I went a bit overboard with training is all."

She nodded and furrowed her brow doing a scan to make sure that I wasn't lying to her. Yoruichi stood and made to leave the room. Soi-fon toddled after her immediately, giving me a bow. The captain ordered me to stay here for as long as necessary, threatening bed rest if I didn't comply, before leaving all together.

Chuckling I nudged Kisuke with my foot. "She's still ignoring you?"

"I can't seem to get her to like me." Kisuke rubbed the back of his head with a small frown coming to his face, before he brightened up. "It'll just take some more time."

"Are you prepared to never be accepted Kisuke?"

The man sighed and shifted my feet so that he could get a proper seat on the sofa. When he was settled he rested my feet on his thigh, and then rested against the arm of the furniture. His mouth formed the closest to a scowl and his eyes became half-lidded. The hand that he had rested on was scratched at his head; scratching a never-ending itch.

Slowly I propped up and shakily came to a cross-legged position. "What's up? - You only get like this when something's bothering you."

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye before he looked away and started to scratch at him cheek. I stared at the motion before taking his hand away. At the rate he was going, he would've started digging a hole straight to his cheek bone. He sighed and turned slightly towards me.

"Yuko-chan… I stumbled across something really interesting."

My eyes narrowed and the almost guilty look on his face. "What is it?"

"Hollowification."

My heart spluttered for my mouth wouldn't move. Theories like that had been denied centuries ago and any sort of experimentation around the topic was absolutely taboo. I sat back, going to the furthest depths that the sofa would allow. I curled my knees in and brought them up to hug.

"That's a one way trip to the Maggot's Nest, Kisuke."

He looked down at his lap, and I zoomed in on the tight curl of his fist, before looking back up at his face. "I'm not going to do anything with it…. I just can't get it out of my head."

"Then let's distract you, yeah?" I knew it would be impossible to do that, not with the way Kisuke looked, but I was going to give it my all even knowing that I would end in failure.


	35. Chapter 34

"Someone grab him!"

I jumped through the scene and grabbed at the guy. I grabbed up the other straggler as well, and then the cero came crashing down at the ground. I checked them briefly for injuries before getting up from my kneeling position.

"Got them." I said at the blinking figure of Kensei.

He just barely finished the shout before I came come swooping in. He ran an eye over the scene before nodding. "You the back up?"

"I came up ahead according to my orders."

"Who else is coming?"

"Shinji and his lieutenant."

He nodded again. It had been just him and a few other division nine squad members that had gone on a recon mission. The captain's meeting had gotten a request for back-up since Kensei had been caught off guard by the quantity. From what I could tell most of them were low ranking seats, which probably didn't help the situation at all. The eleventh division opted out, so Yoruichi volunteered me since I was already out and then Shinji had stepped forward as well. He and Kensei got along decently enough.

Shinji and Aizen landed just at the moment which allowed us to regroup for a few moments to catch everyone up on the hollows. Kensei apparently had gotten to seal the rip and had fought off the Gillian that had attempted to step through. He had been doing everything in his power to fight the rest of them, but he looked exhausted.

Shinji took a glance at me with a smirk coming to his face. "Looks like we're back togetha 'gain."

"I knew you just took this mission to see me. – Flattered."

"Thought ya would be."

"Captain—" Aizen stepped forward and came up between our shoulders. We both turned to look at him. "Is this really a good time for that?"

Shinji stuck his finger into his ear and then proceeded to comb a few strands back off his shoulder. He dumped his eyes onto the lieutenant. "Wha' stick crawled up ya butt? Now's a fine time."

Aizen raised his hands in defense, while Kensei was only shaking his head. He had witnessed our weird meet-up greetings more than enough times to know not to get in the way. It was always after the greetings settled that a relatively normal conversation could flow, so he always waited until then. Aizen hadn't seen us interacting near enough to understand that though.

"Even with the hollows?"

"Who ya kiddin? – May not be 'er best partner or whateva, but this girl alone is captain class." Shinji laid his curling fingers one by one on my shoulder. I couldn't comprehend the weird flash that came across Aizen's face, but I put it down to him being dubious about the proclamation. "There's a reason she's got 'erself a name."

"Stop being hard on him Shinji." The man only smirked in response, tapping my shoulder slightly, but I had turned over to Kensei by this point. "We'll take care of this. You get the rest of your guys back."

"You don't need any cover?" Kensei said his eyebrow and looked just about straining to get himself from shouting. I guess I had laid a blow at his ego with that one.

"You're tired aren't you? Leave it to us, captain."

The only ones I refused to call captain were Shinji and Yoruichi, and that was because I had gotten to know them so well before hand. It would be tough to make a call on which of the two hated formalities more, but I'd give it to him. Shinji let people do whatever they wanted, whether that was addressing him formally or informally. However if someone was too formal he did everything to opt out of dealing with them. Yoruichi had a bit of noble pride still, even with her casual behavior, from her background.

I crushed my foot down onto one's hollows mask and then whilst flipping shouted out, "Hadou 58: Orchid Sky", to the ground below. The tornado swept the hollows away, clearing out a space where the three of us could properly enter.

It was a massacre of disintegrating bodies one by one. Between the three of us, we had more than enough power to wipe them out. I realized belatedly that I hadn't even unsealed Kumo. Since having reached bankai, and now working rigorously to master it, my reiryoku had skyrocketed. Kisuke had pointed it out, and I did my best to tame it. It came out in times like this, however, when I was fighting. Hollows like these were the easiest to kill and didn't require more than hakuda, shunpo, and a few good kido spells.

I spun around and slammed my fist, and then a sequential amount of them, before landing another kick on the top of its mask sending its body simultaneously plummeting and disappating at the same time. As I came down, I land a few blows on one that seemed to be giving Aizen a few problems. My back stiffened slightly, and then relaxed. I turned up to the sky and just breathed.

Shinji took that as the sign and placed his sword away. He hadn't released it either but since he relied mainly on zanjustu, he was always using it. He had taken the time to explain his shikai, and I realized why he was reluctant to use it with others. It would get confusing having everyone moving in opposites around you, and it could throw an ally off. Shinji had taken my offer to train with me though, so I had gotten used to the feeling a bit.

 _Aizen released though, no?_

 _…_ _. Ayake-sama, he didn't release._

 _I could have sworn I saw one of his water attacks._

 _I didn't feel the spike in his reiatsu._

I blinked several times and then looked over the panting man. His sword was already in his sheath but he was clearly out of breath, so he had been fighting. I narrowed my eyes slightly at his form, but his reiatsu felt calm. Was he faking the entire act of being tired? My eyes washed over again, but there was nothing that told me he wasn't tired. He really did look like he had fought hard. Yet, his reiatsu was off. It was too big for having released and supposedly used it.

"Yuko-san?" I pulled away to see him eyeing my warily.

I swiped at the air and then grinning tapped his shoulder. "Sorry. I thought you had gotten injuried."

"Oh no." His eye swept over his own frame and then looked back at me. "I'm just not nearly as strong as you and Hirako-taicho."

 _You're positive about that Kumo._

 _Can't you tell Ayake-sama? He reiatsu would have dropped a little if he had used his zanpakuto._

Shinji's arm came around my shoulders and we walked back, with Aizen a mere two steps behind. Fourth squad had arrived and was already working on all the injuries. I briefly noticed how Shinji's arm felt very different to Kyoraku-taicho's, but then I was totted off to a fourth division member. It took a while to convince them that I had no need for them to check me. They were a persistent bunch, but I had managed it.

 _Must have heard that I was coming from another mission._

 _Indeed._

I wandered slowly up to a young man that had been left alone to the side. If his shihakusho top was anything to tell by then he had been hit on the side with something like a claw. The skin was already healed over, but the man was still twitching lightly. Pain always endured even when the wound had sealed closed. Kido could only do so much.

I was going to step away when his black eyes flung open. They shifted around slightly but then settled on the sky. His brows furrowed down as he tried to gain some recollection of events. His hand moved over the skin, and he struggled to shift around to see what had happened. His teeth gritted and the clench seemed to wrack his entire form.

"Is it hurting too much? I can get a healer to take another look." I move closer and his head swung around to look at me

He was relatively young, but he was definitely finished growing. His face was long and slim, clean shaved, with two piercing black eyes. He had a regal sort of nose that was straight. His black hair was cropped close to his head, although it was spiked so that it looked a bit like a tower at the front, and had long side burns. There was a set in his jaw that looked all too familiar, and then a scowl came across his face which replaced that mask of resemblance. It was too quick for me to pick up.

"Couldn't they have sent someone prettier?"

I wasn't pretty nor was I ugly. I found my looks very average, and I didn't take pride in them necessarily. I appreciated the strength of my body, and the knowledge in my brain. I fell in love with those aspects of myself. My body was just a container for them. A container that I had to protect, because a broken container was useless.

 _That said_ …. My brow twitched slightly. Of course looks were a subjective thing, but it's not like anyone wants to be called ugly to their face.

"Let me guess…. Hot babe with a good curves and a well-endowed chest?" The man looked over at me, and I slowly took a seat next to him before crossing my arms.

"You bet."

Now that I was a bit closer I could make out the lean muscle on the man. I eyed the area where the wound used to be to the faint discoloration. The man was looking at me when I turned my attention back to his face. With one eyebrow raised, and a grin slowly forming, I had to blink.

"Like what—"

"Shiba." I cut through.

The man looked surprised and came onto his forearms. He would have tried more if it weren't for the pain at his side. "How'd you know?"

"Kaien."

"Ah, so you're part of the thirteenth division then."

I crossed my arms showing him a big 'X' and then smacked the guy in his forehead. He teetered over and fell back onto his back with a slight hiss of pain. He glared, but I settled my hands down onto his side and started using the basic kaido that I knew. I was no expert, but I knew how to treat minor wounds since I had gone for some extra lessons every now and again.

"I used to be, but I got transferred. Kaien had joined about a half year before I was moved."

The man nodded and then looked away. His eyes seemed to gloss over in some sort of melancholic mood falling closed, but then they were startled open at something. There was a burning pit in them, after that. The clench on his teeth grew tighter and tighter.

"Relax would you? It's not good for your body to be so tense while I'm healing." His body fell limp again and he turned back to look at me. I stayed focus on the work, edging away as much pain as I was capable of doing. "Sorry I'm not some hot babe."

"It's cool. – A man can dream."

"Keep dreaming then."

His flopped as if he wasn't expecting me to respond so easy. I had taken the wind from his sails on the downgrading front. I chuckled at this, and I saw a smile twitch along his face. His eyes settled up on the sky. Slowly, the kaido settled away and I moved my hands back to inspect the area. It didn't look any worse so at least I hadn't undone any work. We shared a brief look before I stood up to leave. I turned as he called back to me.

"Shiba, Isshin. Ninth division."

I retraced a few steps but stood standing, just so that he wouldn't have to shout. "Ayake Ichiyuko, second division."

"Second?" His brow quirked and I was reminded faintly of the times when I saw Kaien do the same thing. "I thought you were transferred to fourth."

I snorted and gestured towards his wound. "I only know provisional kaido. Couldn't you tell?"

A small flush came to his face, and I chuckled slightly. It only made him squirm, but then he settled back and relaxed. I turned my head over as Shinji called out to me. Looks like we're heading back earlier than the rest of the group.

I turned around to face Isshin again to see him eyeing the see. "What?"

"Why is he calling you so familiarly? He's the fifth squad captain, isn't he?"

I realized then that the man had made no connection with my name and my position. Of course I shouldn't have assumed such a thing, but I very rarely interacted with the lower seats of other squads. There were enough rumors about me going around that I had assumed that my name had gotten out. It was a dumb assumption. My badge had also come undone during my previous mission, so I had stowed it away.

I carefully took it out and flashed it towards him. He trailed his eyes over it and the composed look fell to one of horror. His mouth dropped open and his eyes grew wide as they flickered back at forth. He crawled back a few steps and pointed a finger at me. I waited but no words came out.

"Shinji and I were fuku-taichos together for a time before he was promoted." I trudged through the sentence carefully, spying the new quiver in his arm. I tucked the badge away, since it looked like it was what had caused the shock in the first place. "We never dropped the informality."

"Never mind that…. Why didn't you introduce yourself properly?" It was a sentence somewhere between a quake and squawk.

 _He was calling you ugly, Ayake-sama. He's probably embarrassed to have said that to a fuku-taicho._

 _I see… I thought I responded well enough._

 _Couldn't he get in trouble for the informality?_

 _Hm~ True._

I smiled and bowed politely. "I apologize. My name is Ayake Ichiyuko, fuku-taicho of the second division."

"That doesn't matter now." He crossed his arms in a huff, turning his head away. His wound must have been better for him to be sitting up properly. "I already know who you are."

I chuckled slightly. He was acting like a child throwing a tantrum. "I suppose you do, unseated ninth division member Shiba Isshin."

He flopped down and rolled around slightly before coming to a halt. His eyes peered behind me, and I turned to see that Shinji was still waiting. The blonde threw his arm up, beckoning me, but then came to his normal slouched position.

"He's waiting for you."

"He is." I nodded and turned back over to the guy. Whatever fit he was having was over, and he looked like he had finally settled into someone peace. "Perhaps I'll see you around."

 _Shinji's been waiting a long time._

 _For what, Ayake-sama?_

 _My captaincy…. Let's go master bankai, Kumo._

 _…_ _I never expected a stranger to have such an impact._

 _Hm~~ That's probably just the type of guy he is._


	36. Chapter 35

I fell down and jolted as I made contact with the webs. I had always awaken in the middle of the web. Never before had I fallen into the world. I looked around frantically, standing immediately to take in the situation. The webs looked normal, but I couldn't make out Kumo anywhere. It was like his presence had completely vanished. I slowly edged my hand down onto the hilt of my sword.

The two of us had just been training with the bankai. I had been using his powers not two seconds ago before I found myself flung down into here. My eyes narrowed at the shadows that I had once seen sticking to my spider. There was something moving back there.

I drew my sword out slightly when I heard a scuttle. My ears bled at the sound, but I beat through it to get my sword out of the hilt. Surely, I could still call upon Kumo's powers. He was just somewhere deeper in my inner world than I had been before. He couldn't have just vanished before.

Suddenly his long talon came out of the shadows and flung me up towards the air that I had come down in. I stared at the hairy leg, faintly making out his words. Kumo had never rejected my presence in the inner world, and never before had he hit me. I saw a quick flash of his body, before I broke through the seams and came back to the real world.

My body hunkered over still feeling the slap at my stomach. I curled up on the dirt and attempted to soothe the pain away. My eyes narrowed at the sword that was no sealed up. _What the hell had that been?_ I picked myself up as slowly as possible, feeling everything in my tinge. It was not from the aftereffects of training, but as if something was coming through my veins.

I breathed and tentatively grasped onto his handle before releasing him to an unsealed state. Nothing had changed at all. I could still bring him forth and use his powers. I resealed the sword and pushed him back into my sheath.

 _So why did you push me out, Kumo?_ I crawled up out of the hole and set out to distract myself from the weird incident. I resolved that either Kumo would tell me shortly what was going on, or I would have to force him to expose whatever it was.

As I continued walking, I attempted to put my arms into my sleeves, but realized that it was futile. I had changed my uniform again so that it was sleeveless, for only reasons that Yoruichi and Kisuke were fully aware of. No one else needed to know that I had bankai yet. Although I was getting better and better, and was getting the knack for it, I brushed away the comments claiming I just wanted a change.

I huffed and then crossed my arms behind my back instead. Slowly my head sunk down into my shoulders and I was slowly clawed into thinking about what had happened again. My pulse quickened in thought and I felt a shudder go through my frame. I shook my head and then brought a hand up to my hair and attempted to scrub it all away from the outside in.

 _Maybe I should go get a captain._

Both Ukitake-taicho and Kyoraku-taicho would worry incessantly about it. The white-haired captain would probably make himself sick thinking about it, and Kyoraku-taicho would go on his binges to try and hold me again. My fists clenched together. They probably hadn't even heard of cases such as this.

Kisuke was out on mission and Yoruichi was off doing something else. I could go and distract Shinji but he had been grumpy as of late. I honestly didn't know what was up with him at all. He was getting stressed out over nothing, and he kept asking for my notes about Aizen. I had none to give him and it got him more frustrated and snappy with me.

As for Aizen, there was something kind of weird about him, but I couldn't understand Shinji's worry. Kumo had sometimes noted that there was something clinging to his reiryoku and there was that incident when we had been fighting to hollows. Nothing else was odd about him, and there were other explinations that could solve the solutions.

"Hm~" I took a few running steps to catch a glimpse of the head of the person I had just seen. "Isshin?"

The man in question spun around, a piece of bread in between his teeth, and his free hand searching for something in the folds of his top, whilst the other held more snacks. He snatched at the bread that was falling limp between his lips and quickly bowed. "Ayake-fuku-taicho."

"What's with the formality?"

"Isn't that proper?" He got back up and edged his foot across the tiles. I watched the action before catching his stare. "I mean you deserve the title."

I smiled and the man came slowly to relax. "Just call me Yuko or something else. Not my last name."

He nodded and I gathered him for a walk. A new face was a good way to distract myself. We made small talk, until he gradually loosened up enough to start talking more. I learned that Kaien was his nephew, and even though Isshin was the older one he had gone to the academy after his younger nephew. He had also spent the expected six years, instead of his genius nephew's two. There was some jealously behind his words, but it seemed that the man was dealing with it well enough.

Isshin shared the same Shiba nonchalance. Being from the branch house there was even less standard to live up to, but Isshin had a lot of respect for those that worked up the ranks. He was a hard-worker himself and therefore appreciated it in someone else.

He chomped off another piece of bread and swallowed. "So why were you just walking around?"

"I apologize… I haven't been very truthful with you. I really needed a distraction."

He raised an eyebrow and finished off his snack and then shrugged. "If I was really that bothered I would have come up with some excuse."

"I suppose you would have." He did seem like the type to do that. I sighed and twisted my neck to wringe out the tense muscles. "I appreciate your company anyway."

"You're pretty good company too."

It turned out that we had a few things in common actually, particularly when it came to food. When Isshin wasn't being an obnoxious pervert, his sentiments were in the right place and he was actually quite smart for someone pretty new to the Gotei 13. He was a touch old-fashioned when it came to women, I could tell from the way he talked about them, and he had good manners if not just a bit abrupt.

He was also increasingly determined. Something had pressed his button lately, he said, and now he was invigorated to start taking his training more seriously. He had gotten through the academy with a moderate amount of work, but he wanted to make his way up the ranks. I think he felt a bit suffocated by the genius of his younger nephew but I didn't feel that it was my place to bring up the topic.

With a quick scan, I could pretty much tell that he had latent potential which was just untapped. His reiatsu was already very strong, and his body was already holding a fair amount of muscle. He was pretty intuitive, seeing as he easily pointed out all of his flaws to me, and his psychology seemed very sturdy. Battle tactics and such weren't necessarily needed but I was sure he wasn't bad at them.

"Okay." We had taken a seat somewhere off on the plains of Seireitei. I rose from my spot, and his eyes followed me with one eye brow coming up. "I'll train you."

"Huh?" His mouth dropped open and he spluttered. He stood and began to adamantly protest the situation. When I asked why, it came out in a flurry. "Because I plan to surpass you. - I can't train with the person I'm going to beat."

 _When did this happen?_

 _I believe some time during your fight with the hollows._

 _Kumo!_

 _I apologize for earlier Ayake-sama._

 _…_ _. I can expect an explination, you know? But I'll accept your apologies._

 _Thank you…. When I come to understand the situation myself, I'll make sure to tell you._

My eyes narrowed. It was not good that Kumo didn't even know what was going on in our world. He lived there, so he should have to best understanding, but with even him being confused the situation took a turn towards bleak. I couldn't go to Kisuke yet either. It sounded like Kumo didn't want to include anyone in what was going on.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Isshin had taken a few steps back and was in a cowering squat with his hands over his head.

I blinked and cleared my face. "Sorry – It was something my zanpakuto said."

He jumped up and I blinked again. He's quick mood swings were something that I would have to get a better grip over but I could get used to them. As long as he acted seriously the majority of the time, then there shouldn't be too many clashes in our personalities.

"I stand by what I said."

"I refuse."

I smiled and then shook my head. "My former captain once told me that I should stop comparing myself with others, and focus on comparing myself to my increasing skills… I don't disagree with having some competition but it's not me that you have to beat."

"You're your own worst enemy, huh?" Isshin had stopped fooling around and nodded. His face looked worried at the prospect though, and I knew that I hadn't convinced him yet.

"Maybe I'm not the best to tell you this, but - Only recently I've come to understand why I've worked so hard." Isshin raised an eyebrow at this, but I turned away from his gaze to look over at the building that were just behind us. "I don't fight to protect the whole. The things worth protecting are my connections inside - The things that allow me to exist."

Isshin opened his mouth to say something but then it settled quietly. The sun was setting somewhere in the back, and I saw the flashes of orange that were cascading the darkening sky. Looming up ahead was the slowly emerging moon, that with each coating of black became brighter and brighter above us. In this plain of existence, I was crafted by the hands of the rest. We existed through each other and thorugh our memories of each other. My fists slowly closed and I took a deep breath to calm my suddenly furious heart.

"I'm going to protect those people. – That's what I decided… Or I'm going to die trying."

There was a small intake of breathe and I turned over to Isshin. His eyes had grown wide and his breathes just a bit quick. The outline of a smile gave out to the real thing slowly, like sand running through the small neck of a sand timer. He carried the same sheen in his eyes as I did. I could feel it in the nod he sent my way.

"I get it."

"Right now you're weaker than me. Until you stand on your own feet, I'll teach you."

"You really want to do this?" He crossed his arms and looked a bit miffed at the offer. "You're still my competition."

"Competition for what? I'm planning to get a captaincy one day… If it's the seat that you want then go for it."

"I don't care about a chair."

"You should." I breathed at his look, and then tilted my head back. "That chair is the closest to freedom."

"Freedom from what?"

"Imposition… I want to make some changes to this place – good ones, I think. I can't do that from the bottom."

I hadn't explained it correctly, and I could see that in the furrow between Isshin's brows. He nodded nonetheless and seemed to actually be thinking about what I said. Slowly he came to a conclusion and then agreed to my offer. I grinned and we smacked hands together to affirm the deal.

"So if I don't become captain then you will."

He looked outraged at the assumption and attempted to pull his hand back from my closed grip around it. "Absolutely not. I don't want the damn chair."

"Too bad~."

He kneeled down in defeat, and I slowly unwound my hand. A few childish tears slipped through his eyes as he started mumbling at his hand for betraying him. I smacked him lightly on the top of his head, but he only turned a puppy dog look on me.

 _Not nearly as good as Ukitake-taicho's._

 _Your former captain has had at least a century to perfect it._

Kumo and I snickered at the thought, before I turned over to Isshin. "I really do think you can become captain, you know."

"I don't want it."

"Well, then you'll be my fuku-taicho when you're ready." Isshin looked at the ground and then nodded. He slowly accepted my hand and I helped him up from the ground. We proceeded back to the main area of Seireitei in silence, before Isshin cut through.

"I figured out what to call you then."

"Oh?"

"Sensei." He winked before departing down the opposite side. I shook my head at the minor nonsense he was proclaiming, since we were far more equal than he believed.

 _Like a gem that needs shining, Ayake-sama._

 _Yeah. That's what I'd say._

 _He'll need a lot of shining…. Are you sure you can handle it?_

 _Yeah. I'm happy with the decision._

 _Then I'm happy too_


	37. Chapter 36

I slipped my hands in between the space of their heads, and threw the two of them back. They had been causing a scene when I had gotten there. People were watching the two in interest and amusement; waiting to spread it in the tabloids for all Seireitei to hear. Of all times they couldn't get along, it just had to be in the middle of the streets of Seireitei, and the near the first division at that.

"That is more than enough." I shoved Kisuke far enough away and then turned in on Soi-fon. Her small frame immediately came down into dozenga prostration.

"Yu—"

"Enough." My words cracked a bolt of lighting through the situation. Kisuke backed up, leaving his hands open in innocence. I turned my eyes of to a small group that were comfortable in the back. "Get out of here."

When they didn't move immediately I pulsed my reiatsu out. They scampered and then fell back in their haste to get away. They grabbed each other up, helping each other from falling again, and I watched them scatter around. I turned my over towards every group, until the entire corrider was deserted of people.

"Soi-fon."

The girl was beginning to sweat underneath my reiatsu. I watched as she shifted and attempted to make herself more comfortable but they were attempts in vain. I took my reiatsu back down until I saw that she could make clear movements. She was breathing hard, and her form was slightly quivering. Her eyes turned up towards my briefly, and then back down to the ground.

"My deepest apologies, Yuko-sama. I got carried away."

"Carried away, you say? – That is the most abhorrent apology I've ever seen from you. Do you understand the implications of your actions? The image of the second division will be tested now."

"I apologize."

"Does an apology make it better? Does an apology make the situation disappear? - Tell me, Soi-fon."

"No ma'am." Her shout bounced from the ground and up into the air.

I kneeled down and placed my hand upon her shoulder. Her body was running warm from my partial abuse. I too had slipped a bit from my position, abusing it and causing her a slight amount of pain. She wasn't at the stage were she could handle such pressure. I slowly began to knead out the muscles, using a bit of kaido to quicken the healing. Her body slowly unwound but I could sense that she was close to tears from the way that she was shuddering.

"I apologize Soi-fon." Her head jerked to a stop and I brought her up so that she could see my face. "I caused you some damage, which wasn't my intention at all. - I'll do better to work on my temper."

"No, Yu—"

"I made a mistake, see…. It happens. The important part is to move along by bettering ourselves, okay?"

She nodded furiously and leaned slightly into the embrace on her shoulder. Ever so slowly her eyes came back to mine, and I did my best to smile. I was still upset by her actions, but there was no need to fear me. I took my hand from my shoulder and placed it instead on her head and ground slightly. Her face wrinkled up at the action, a small blush lining the bridge of her cheeks, and then she came to look at me again. The tears drying at the corner of her eyes.

"It's okay to question your superiors at times. It makes you much sharper, but this was not something to cause a fit over." She bowed her head again with a nod, and I placed my hand on her chin to make her raise it again. "Kisuke is the third seat of the division, and you may not like that, but you must respect him. He's a good man and a good fighter…. Don't write anyone off for their personality. - I hope one day you come to respect him like you do me."

Her eyes siphoned off to the side, and I knew that I wouldn't get the response I needed nor wanted. She would take her time to come to her own conclusion as do all people. I furrowed my brow at this, feeling the slightest bit guilty for trying to convince her to see things my way. I let out a sigh and ordered her to get back to the barracks and get some rest.

I put my hand up in her face as she began to protest. "You are young. – Take the time to rest. No one will think less of you."

I slowly helped her lift herself up, and then watched as she disappeared around the corner. As her reiatsu went further and further away, I turned over onto Kisuke. He was watching with his shuffling feet; already groveling with his head knocked down and hand raised to rub at it. My angry came a new again, coiling like a snake ready to strike, as I took in his form. I snatched at his shihakusho and dragged him down to my height, so that I could send the daggers straight through his eyes. His eyes flickered, going between each of my shaded eyes.

I could count the amount of times I had been angry at anyone on one hand. I always commended myself with being able to reason out people's interactions and reasons for responding poorly. I brushed off taunts, and stayed far away from people that would try to pick fights. Intellectual battles are one thing, and I could appreciate those, but the more physical ones, like these, almost never happened. The few times they had occurred, Kumo was there to help me sort it out quickly. However, he seemed to have been taking a long break from communicating with me. I was alone in my head for once.

"What… Do you think you are doing?"

His eyes locked to mine finally, keeping us staring at each other into oblivion. "I'm so-"

"More apologies, Kisuke?"

"What do you want me to say?"

Gritting my teeth I jumped us both back and had him slammed up against the wall. Due to the height difference he was squatting down, with his legs sticking out on either side of me. He winced as his head clattered against the stone, and his eyes shut briefly. The flames flickered slightly, but I closed my grip even tighter.

"I don't want fucking apologies boyo." His eyes came open and he stared at me again. Cursing was also a rare event. "You want to explain to me why you, a third seat, could not stand up to your inferior?"

"It's not like that Yuko."

"Explain it."

He eyes trailed off to the side and I slammed his back up again. If he wasn't going to pay attention, I would just have to make him. He pulled his hands up and kept them near my shoulders, ready to make a move if I attempted to be aggressive with him again. When his eyes came back to me, there was a coldness that I knew he reserved only for oponnents. My mouth clamped down, and I waited as patiently as I could.

"It was a misunderstanding."

I swung him up just as he finished the sentence and threw him across the corridor. He made no move to stop my actions, or to prevent his injury, as he banged against the wall and then tumbled his way down to the floor. A few pieces of rubble crumbled down on top of him as he slowly picked himself up. His eyes held that shock that built up more anger in my system.

The lid on my reiatsu burst open and scrambling Kisuke followed through. He came upon him feet and we stared off at each other. It was now an even battle, although Kisuke who hates battles of force, would hate to admit that. He liked to outwit oponnents as quickly as possible and be done. I preferred to do that too, but I just didn't have same the battle capacity that he had, so I was forced to use more force than him. This was a battle of will power; our two reiatsus clamoring over one another higher and higher.

As I sprung forward, the man in turn responding, arms looped around my shoulders from the back. I slipped underneath them and flipped around swinging a leg at the interloper's head. They dodged and we began a flurry of hakuda movements that would have sent most people reeling. It was then I knew that I was fighting Yoruichi, for there was no one that kept up with movements at this pace like her.

We sprung apart, as I got a kick in at her sternum. As I stumbled back winded from the fight, another set of arms coiled around me. I wiggled and bucked around, trying to get out, but the hold clenched down and it became impossible to anything but feel as my heart pulsated in my chest. In a last attempt, I flung my head back to attempt and catch his chin.

"Simmer down now Yuko-chan."

His voice filtered through my ears, and tugged at the pin that was keeping all my other emotions out. I died down, hanging uselessly in his strength, and he slowly let me collect onto the ground. His arms unwound, but he kept a steady hand on my back. More than likely to make sure that he could react fast enough if I decided to lunge.

"Kyoraku-taicho."

"I have no idea what's going on, but both your reiatsus could be felt at the captain's meeting." Yoruichi barked out, hands on her hips.

Yoruichi had to look between us, as Kisuke also had made no intention to move. It seemed the he had stopped himself as Yoruichi and I tussled together. Ever so slowly, he made his way up and took a rather painful blow from the captain. His frame shook as he took the blow and then I watched as he quietly explained the situation out to her. Yoruichi's gold eyes flashed several times, looking over at me during a number of them, but her posture never slackened.

She beckoned me over with a flick of her head, and I shrugged away from the captain that had come to help. His touch was becoming a burn anyway, still feeling it across the expanse of my back as I was walking. I rolled out my shoulders to help fix my posture and then lifted my head up as I came to a stop.

"Are you done acting like a petulant child?" We both narrowed our eyes at each other, but I kept my lips firmly shut. I didn't stop the swing of her hand as it caught to my cheek. "You stopped a fight only to start a new one. How dumb are you?"

"Don't take your nobler than thou attitude with me Yoruichi. You know that you've caused more damage before." I allowed her the diginity of at least staring down at me, since I didn't bother come up after she had hit me.

"Come back when you've cooled of, Yuko.- And keep your damn reiatsu in check." Yoruichi grabbed onto Kisuke and then the two of them were gone from the area.

I strangled the scream in my throat, until I was curled was bowed over. Then I let my mouth open wide, my fists curling, and I yelled so loudly there was no sound. I raked my closed fist against the ground, feeling the bite of my nails into my palm and the gravel of the stones interjecting in my mournful anger. I rocked forward so my head was pushing into the ground, and let my heart give a few more bursts. Shuddering with the anger unreleased, I slowly pulled back and began to stand.

"Don't fucking touch me." I slapped at his hand that was coming to my forearm. I spun around and pushing at his chest a few times. "You always fucking touch me. You infernal pervert of a man…. Don't you dare."

Through him, I pushed the anger out. We were walking backwards with the force; me putting everything I had into it, and him taking the pushes. They did nothing. My heart still clattering against my rib cage, and the air drying up in my lungs as fast as I could breath it all in.

Kyoraku-taicho stayed quiet, until I pushed for the final time. "Yuko-chan, you have to calm down."

"Shut up." I wrenched from his grasp, and backed up until I was no longer an arms-length away. "Come any closer and …. I'll - I'll hurt you."

I wrapped my two arms close to my torso and shuddered under the dying sun. I finally got a good look at his face. While the line of his mouth told me nothing, there was a sadness that rocked through me. A hard shudder past through me and I clenched hard, digging my hands into my ribs to stay calm. His eyebrows were slightly bunched together, puckering up in worry, but the rest of his eye area was looped down. It all dragged with sorrow.

 _Why?_

The breath caught in my throat and brought up a hand to my neck. I turned and I fled from the visage of the man that was reaching out to me.

I bowed down and touched my forehead to the floor. "Thank you Sou-taicho for your leniency."

The man grunted and I heard the shift of his fabric. His cane came down on the floor resounding louder than his footfall. The tip came and pressed into my shoulder blade, pressing me up and backwards. It circled slightly and pushed down a bit deeper, and then he released me from the bind.

"By sure that your foolish stupidity doesn't cause such problems again, girl."

"Of course Sou-taicho."

I bowed down and then got up stiffly to start my backwards descent out of the room. His eyes were fixed off on to the wall that he was facing, but his reiatsu lingered around my shoulder heaping there. Each step felt leaden like moving under water when one doesn't know how to swim. Ironically, I realized that I actually didn't know how to swim. I had never lived near a body of water. The laughter died at the thought as I kept creeping backwards.

"Ayake Ichiyuko."

I paused where I was and stood up like a tree in the middle of a hurricane. "Yes, sir."

"Your proposal was a very interesting read."

My heart stuttered back to life from its previous flayed state, and I found myself entranced by his turning towards me. It was the same figure of him with his two hands on his cane. For once, he looked like the leader that I could imagine actually following under. It wasn't just for acknowledging the proposal, but for the act. I had misinterpreted the man for being cold and ruthless based on a history textbook.

"Thank you sir."

He cane clattered. "Don't interrupt - Should you continue to prove to be nothing but an imprudent and prideful child then I will strip you of your rank… However, if you should continue to demonstrate the characteristics that people choose to value in you, then perhaps you can get to my feet."

 _No wonder they said that he was a good teacher_.

I shuddered at the opening of his one eye as he took a look at me. I bowed my head at the touch of acknowledgement and I finally felt stripped of his reiatsu. My hands quivered at the thought that it had been clinging to my frame for all these months since I had first met him. He grunted and left the room using the side doors and I struggled to keep my knees from quaking.

 _How had I not recognized the tag he placed on me?_

There was no voice to respond this time, but I could hear a slight whisper from the spider. At the very least, I knew that he was still there; laying in waiting. I took my quivering form and let the air jostle me out of the room. My fingers slowly clenched around the door handle and then I was home free from the room. As the door closed behind my back, I slathered up against it and waited for the light headedness to pass.

I turned my head over to find Kisuke, who had slipped in just a few seconds before. We came to our standoff from earlier but this time just with our eyes. His eyes melted before me, giving way to one of the first actual signs of weakness that I had seen his display. He slowly slipped his arm around me and pulled me in for a hug. I draped onto him and clenched up, letting him carry me again.

"I'm brushing it Kisuke." My hand moved as if Kisuke's back was the goal that was in reach and traced gently.

"You are Yuko-chan."

"I'm sorry." My head came onto his shoulder and whispered it from my heart to his ear. He nodded in kind but said nothing back. He really didn't have anything to apologize for anyway.

As we traveled away from one another, I hung myself. I had gone to the sou-taicho to hand in my debt. The man had shouted at me for being an incompetent idiot for about ten minutes, before he handed over my punishment. He waved me away with saying that it could have been worse except that I had gone to him directly which very few ever did. Then washed a bit of a victory with his odd touch of courtesy. He was really a teacher, badgering down and then alleviating the situation.

"I'll get better."

Kisuke's eyes shifted over towards me, and then narrowed. "It was just a mistake."

"No, Kisuke." I sighed and rubbed my neck. "It won't happen again. - I don't think you understand how hard it is to see you be you."

"Huh?" I turned to look back at his paused frame. He was comically standing with his legs and arms spread out as if someone had shot arrows at his frame. His eyes grew large and he put a hand up to his face to cover it in a faux manner.

I chuckled and tugged on his arm to get us moving again. "Forget it - Let's do better together Kisuke."

"Wait Yuko-"

I grabbed his arm tighter and then shot forward with a shunpo giving him no more time to say anything as he had to try and keep up with the actions. That goof.


	38. Chapter 37

It was easy to avoid Kyoraku-taicho with the extra work that the Sou-taicho had given me. I was constantly being sent out on runs to the outer districts to be sent on contingency missions, or I was stuck doing odd jobs with the clean up squads that were going around. Only a short two weeks later the Sou-taicho gave me my reprieve with another chastizment and I didn't bother looking back. I had seen him enough times for now.

When the jobs ran out, after paying back my debt, I had to do everything to get away from the brown haired captain. He around ever corner, and down at the end of every hall. Yoruichi had even jokingly called him in whilst I was handing a report. Kyoraku-taicho was stalking me to the wits of both my physical and mental strength. It was even grating on my other friends, particularly Isshin who didn't want to train in front of captain.

I had gone pleading to Ukitake-taicho to get the man to talk to his friend, but my former captain only told me that he had already tried. I nearly fell into sobs as my saving grace had already failed and I hadn't even known.

"Get out." Yoruichi threw me through the doors and then had the doors slammed in my face. Her voice came out muffled when it was croaked through the thick wood. "You can't come back until that captain of yours is gone."

"Yoruichi you're horrible."

"Get."

 _He's not even mine._

I stopped pounding on the door to get it to open and swung my head up. I could make out his reiatsu through the ceiling above. He had been lying there for over four hours and it was only eleven in the morning. I plopped my head onto the door and let out a sigh. If only I had Kumo to bicker with about this whole situation with, then I'd feel a bit less stressed about the whole thing.

I hopped onto the tiles of the roof. He was stretched out relaxedly like a cat on the tiles, with his ankles crossed. His arms acted like a pillow, and his wide brimmed hat as a block for the sun that was slowly rising. I felt a small thrum go through my body at the familiar position, and wiped it away shortly after that.

I trapezed across the tiles and slowly came to a lean over him. His pony-tail was position over his shoulder, so I gave it a rough tug. His hand came out and grabbed my wrist whilst his other titled the hat back from his face. Two large brown eyes broke open and he swiped up and clung onto my ankles. I staggered slightly at the sudden force, but kept from falling over as well.

"My lovely Yuko-chan… I've finally been gifted with your beautiful face."

"Get off Kyoraku-taicho."

He slunk away, his hands dragging as he did so, as he reworked his face into a sad frown. It was only on his lips though, that happy gleam still staggering lazily through his eyes. "Is my Yuko-chan angry with me still?"

I kicked his hands away when they hadn't completely left, and crossed my arms. With a raised eyebrow, I leaned in slightly. "You've been stalking me captain."

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright…. Something could have happened to you." He leaned forward as well, fixing his falling hat and sitting to his correct height with a wide criss-cross. "Can I not make sure my Yuko-chan is doing alright anymore?"

If it had not been for one, the fight that had occurred and the subsequent words after it, and two, the consistent stalking, I would have not had a problem. Kyoraku-taicho always popped in at random times to make sure that I was alright. Since he felt no obligation to his work, it was usually him seeking me out, unless we were both at Ukitake-taicho's for tea.

I knew the insistence was intimately connected with the fight between Kisuke and I that had occurred. His face had kept popping up when I shut my eyes, and I felt floored every single time when I re-imagined it. He had only been trying to help and I pushed him away. I had tried to re-work the situation to see if I might have had the same reaction if it had been Ukitake-taicho or even Shinji. It probably wouldn't have been. Ukitake-taicho would have been more pressing and getting me to settle, and Shinji would have started barking, probably making the situation worse between our two tempers.

I had reacted to the touching that I could only place with Kyoraku-taicho. As of late, every time he got to land a hit, small or large, my skin tingled for hours and it was hard to control my reactions. The men at the brothel, who literally were trained through continous work to make women blush, had never gotten me to feel so vulnerable. Kyoraku-taicho wasn't even saying anything in those moments. He was simply being and it set me on fire.

The man of my thoughts was still staring and waiting patiently. He had a certain talent for being patient, which was probably be default since he hated fighting so much. That dopey look that I had first recognized on his face was back, and I let out a sigh of sudden tolerance. Kyoraku-taicho would never change, with that mask to keep his keen dangerous side hidden.

Slowly I stretched my hand out, and wrapped it around so that I left only my forefinger out. He watched, crossing his eyes, as it came to connect with his forehead. When his eyes came to meet mine, I gifted him with a wide smirk. "You. Are. It…. Captain."

I heard the flurry of his shunpo trying to keep up with mine. Little did he know that this was not like any ordinary game of tag. While no violence was allowed, all types of agility where. It could be swinging and looping through branches, to using distracting and replacement techniques. I had never played the game with him, but he'd pick it up. Games were his speciality after all.

I snickered and retreated back through his swiping arm, and shuddered away. I could see that easy-going smile since he had ditched the hat, as well as the pink kimono. He immediately looked more slender without everything covering him up. Something flashed in his eyes, and we came to a quick standstill breathing together, before we set off again. His flash-steps may be longer, but mine were much more adept and I could pivot easier.

I flipped up onto the branch, and took a seat on top of it. When he finally looked up I waved down at him with a slow wiggle of my fingers. We had been staying only on the ground so far, so he scratched at his forehead at the new movement.

Slowly I quirked a finger and gestured him to follow me up. "Come captain… Aren't you always saying you want to hold me?"

He let out a laugh and waited pleasantly down at the bottom. "Yare~ So dangerous Yuko-chan."

He jumped and came for me. With another smile, I slowly swung around the branch so that I was sitting on it upside down for all of three seconds before falling through the wide whole that his arms had created. It was a bit dangerous, with his reaction time, but I maneuvered around another branch which let me swing immediately off to the right.

He flashed right in front of my face but I slipped off again. We repeated this again and again. I had to show off a few hints to get the game going and he was always more than surprised by the developments. Something would come up in his eyes, as he brain transcribed what he saw into reason, and then we'd start again. Once he got all the rules of the game, which had allowed me more than a little easy taunting, we truly switched off between who was 'it'.

I snuck up behind him, and we both crashed, circling around over our heads. I fell off to the side with a thump to the ground. I let out a few breathless laugh, and he soon followed after. His deep chuckles came to overlay my own, and I simply smiled at the sound. For a man that smiled so often, it was hard to get him to laugh from his stomach. I rested my eyes to the sound and looked up over head at the wave of the trees.

 _Our clearing is certainly nicer._

"Yuko-chan. Don't fall asleep on me."

"Aren't you supposed to say you find me cute when I sleep?"

Kyoraku-taicho's head popped up as I opened my eyes. That true smile still on his face from the laughs that he had just finished spewing. "It's a tough trade off… You do look cute when you sleep but then I don't get to hear your beautiful voice."

I waved him away and sat up with a flourish. Keeping my face blank, I started to say something but my words fell apart at his next question. His deep voice had carried it steadily but my heart had done a cartwheel. Slowly my eyes fell down to the earth floor and I found the steadiness a nice change from the rapid changes in my emotions lately. Ever since being kicked out of my inner world and lacking communication with Kumo, everything about me was on edge; though Kyoraku-taicho's imposition was much more positive than the rest of it all.

 _Did it make me happy?_

I had never thought about that. Chiyo and the girls at the brothel had used one another to live from one day to the next. Then at the academy the idea hadn't really surfaced much, even after I made friends with Kisuke and Yoruichi. I figured as friends we made each other equally happy otherwise how would we have stayed so close through the years. It's how I thought about all my friends. There were a few times when we did things for one another; bought each other gifts, gave each other advice, made each other laugh for instance. Even those felt mutual though.

The way that Kyoraku-taicho had asked the question was almost selfless in itself. It just couldn't be that way, though, could it? He'd also receive something from being nice and 'making me happy' as he said. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it felt odd receiving it from such a man. It was kind of declaring me as an equal to him, but the gap was just too much, wasn't it? Between his length of experience and captaincy, I was nothing more than a child yearning for her desire.

I sighed and flopped back, the weight of my head tilting me back. I ignored Kyoraku-taicho's call of my name and let out another sigh. "I totally deserved that."

"Yuko-chan?"

I rolled just my head so that I could make him out better from my prone position. He was in his normal cross-legged position, but he his eyes were a bit sharper than when he was fully relaxed. Kumo was right, when had I learned to read the man so well?

"Sou-taicho calls me a child."

Kyoraku-taicho gave me a few chuckles and shook his head. "He calls everyone that."

"He was right." I declared it firmly, and stared back at the sky. "I have a lot to learn… I got a bit comfortable, I guess."

I heard the man shuffling around and he came lay down close by me. If I reached out I could hit his chest with my hand. He spoke softly as if there was someone else that could overhear our conversation. But there was nothing but the chirping birds and the wafting trees.

"Learning is an everyday occurrence."

"I know that. - I just…" I burst up and came to rest on my left leg to balance my weight. I rested my right, just slightly off of it, and then leaned closer over the man's chest. "I want to be the best captain I can be…. I'll give up my childishness for it."

"There's no need to give up anything more for it. You've given enough with your oath to die for your duty here." His hand waved in the air for a moment and then pressed a few taps onto my own hand. "You'd make a great captain already, Yuko-chan."

I had wrenched the bankai from somewhere out of my stomach, leaving a dark mass there to fester. My breathing echoed up around my ears. The raggedness came through my throat, causing me to choke a little at the feeling. Each beat of my heart was off from the breath of my lungs. Sometimes it came in fast, hurdling up against my chestbone, and then other times it slowed down to the below the minimum. I suffered under the sweat that was coming through.

Like with my shikai, something had seemingly clicked and I understood the paradox of my bankai. The fight had knocked a new sort of sense into me. I could not continue to do what I was doing in my real life, which was effecting how I once again understood the abilities of my zanpakuto. Instead, it was the type of solution that was easier said than done, but made sense once the user knew how to manage it. When looking back, it likes breathing and you forget why it was so difficult a concept since it seemed only so natural to have come to and life through the conclusion.

However, now as I was in my inner world bouncing around on the strings that Kumo had left there was again that same tension as if I couldn't match sync with it. My teeth flayed down on my lip and I spluttered out another breathe. From the corner of my eye I could see his long leg come out and aim at me.

Kumo had changed color only slightly, but it was something that I had noticed. The green of his body was just tinged in a sort of deep, forest green-black. His legs were still the brighter color, but the bulb of his body was its sister color. When I had continued staring at it, Kumo had rattled off telling me to mind the attacks that he would be throwing at me. I had only to connect it to the way that the shadows were still clingy to him.

He was an edgy spider, and he had me furiously training my bankai because of it. We could still connect as usual, and there were no issues, but I could feel it in the heavy contours of the web beneath us. It lacked the spring that it used to have, almost as if the reiryoku had been sucked dry from it. The change was making him anxious, and I was getting anxious since he wasn't telling me anything. I was just thankful that he had taken up to communicating with me again. That did make me feel just a little bit better about the situation.

I flipped away from the next attack, but was not able to dodge the second leg that he had sent my way. I stumbled backwards, and teetered just slightly into the shadows. The immediate glow covered my body and I felt hands latching onto me from behind. They came and slithered around, covering every empty canvas space of my body.

The coldness was new too. Kumo hadn't been cold. He was always seeking for the warmest part of my soul to crawl over to. These shadows had dropped to at least below freezing, and there was an iciness that slicked over the webs there.

I thrashed against the hold, but they only released when Kumo's long leg came and wrapped around me hoisting me up and out. The shadows seemed to back away from his leg, though one clung like a leech. Kumo swung another leg down and the shadow disappated. I watched it crumble into small flakes and then go off back towards its home in the darkness.

"Kumo-"

"I believe that's enough training for the day, Ayake-sama… Although it didn't go as well as you intended I can tell you are already masterful in using me properly."

"Wait. Hold on—"

"We can relax on the training a bit, I believe. You know all the secrets now."

I stared at the body of the spider that was still facing the shadows that had tried to torment me. One of his legs came and gave me a slight push. I settled into jinzen position and forced myself to relax enough. It was a bit hard as I felt Kumo slink off to end some sort of clatter that happened. In the very back of the shadows.

My eyes fluttered open in the training pit, and I picked up the sword that was laying across my lap. I stowed it away and crawled out from the underground slowly. Kumo's incessant attitude, and his edginess, and the keeping secrets all linked up to the feeling that I had received inside those shadows. A shiver quaked through me at the thought of the place.

In the absence of light, it wasn't just the cold that had clung to me, nor the hands that were touching. But the shadows had breathed as if taking in a new scent, and I had felt a small drag of my reiatsu leaving me.

 _And that last clatter…._ I broke my thoughts away so that I would be able to walk through the forest without having my guard up. Kumo would sort it out I was sure. If not, he'll tell me.


	39. Chapter 38

**A/N: Thanks for the follow Kikidevil70 and xXFallenSakuraXx52! And thanks for another encouraging review animegal1998. I hope everyone is continuing to enjoy the story. Please leave comments/reviews. Love to hear what you guys are thinking.**

For once I had actually gone into a doze. Sleep had been a bit elusive of the past couple of months; never enough to inhibit me, but never restful enough. I could work, train, eat, converse, all like normal and yet whenever I would drag my weary body to be I'd toss and turn all night in some sort of half sleep. I'd wake up the next morning with some sort of rotten blurred feeling in my head and walk out the door to see if I could work myself into exhaustion. It was a horrible way to live.

I had snuck away to the roofs since I could feel that my own vision was falling apart, and then slept. I had only woken up just now before an all too familiar presence was by my side. Actually, make that two presences.

I rolled over and saw Kyoraku-taicho's pink kimono, as the man had taken a seat next to me. He was looking down at me with a slightly curious grin, although he was all too happy to be rubbing my head for a wake up call. I swatted him away immediately. As I clambored up, though my head was reeling from the sudden movements, I could make out Yoruichi's amused eyebrow raise and that smirk across her face. Her arms were loosely crossed underneath her chest, so it couldn't have been long since they got here since she only stood like that for about a minute at a time.

"How was the captain's meeting?" I swiped at my face, not even bothering to play off that I had been sleeping. My head felt heavy from the new energy that I would be feeling shortly.

"You're in for a treat, Yuko." I raised my eyes up to her golden ones, and noticed that the smirk had turned from amusement to warmth. My eyebrows furrowed at the change. "Guess what's happening in a short while."

I leaned back onto my hands, echoing a position like Kyoraku-taicho. For once he was sitting up straight, and that relaxed look was morphed into something just on the other side of sharp. We locked eyes for a moment, and I felt myself stiffen from it. There was some sort of code there, as well as in Yoruichi's body and language. I turned back to her and then sighed.

"I just woke up… Do you mind telling me? Or do I have to play the guessing game?"

Boughts of laughter followed my statement, and Yoruichi came into a squat. Her body seemed to have started twitching in the anticipation of what she had to tell me. I leaned forward so that my forearms were resting on my legs. It looked as if it was important, so I was doing my best to get my brain functioning properly, by spying out every detail that I could on her face.

"I hope you don't get too used to naps…" Yoruichi gave Kyoraku-taicho a quick look but the man merely shrugged in his typical fashion, not at all bothered by the jab. It's not like she could talk either. She probably took just as many naps with her cat like personality. "There's a captaincy promotion coming up."

My body took all of five seconds to send electricity through my veins. My lungs may have stopped working but everything else was in tact. I sprung onto my knees and gripped onto my friend's forearms. Her own hands came to wrap around my arms, and she merely grinned. No lies on her face whatsoever. I turned over to Kyoraku-taicho who nodded his head.

"You're both serious."

When the two nodded again, I pulled back and just started laughing. My hands came to my face to try and contain all the energy that I had been craving for the past months. I fell backwards on to my back and let the quivers of electricity subside, but never the joy. Slowly I lifted my hand up to my vision. It jerked slightly, and then just stayed quivering, before I clenched it and raised my fist further up.

"Please tell me you already recommending me."

"You got it chick." I lifted onto my forearms and looked at the cat woman in front of me. She was resting her chin into her palm. Amusement was painted everywhere. "I even recommended Kisuke but he's already turned it down."

I frowned slightly at this but then nodded. Kisuke was still abhorrent to the idea of leading. I came to my normal sitting position. I'd be going up for promotion. Just the thought had another smiling coming back. Those two had never stopped me before. If I passed, then they'd let me take my leave with as much honor and pleasure as possible.

Yoruichi stood up and ground her hand into my head. "Glad you're happy. – Although, you think you can talk to Kisuke? He's been locked up in that damn lab, that idiot."

I nodded and she disappeared seconds later. Probably to take her own nap, since meetings always made her tired. My fingers tapped a rhythm on the tiles of the roof, before I gained enough motivation to raise my eyes to the still sitting eighth division captain. He had moved on to going into his normal sleeping position, although I could tell that this time he was just relaxing instead of falling asleep.

 _Damn that smile_.

I crawled just a bit closer to the man and came into a formal kneel by his ribs. From underneath the shade of his hat, one of his eyes slowly came open. He rocked onto his side and came into a lounging position, with one arm bent so he could rest his head onto it. His hat floated off, which I caught before the wind could take it away.

"What squad?"

I twirled the hat between my fingers to keep them occupied. My body was still buzzing from the information, and I couldn't really keep still just yet. I brought the hat up to my face, and then acting shyly peeked my two eyes over the brim to look at the man. He shook his head slightly but still smiled.

"Tenth... But does it matter?"

"Not at all." I brought the hat onto my head. I had never actually worn it before. It was too big and slide slightly either towards the back or towards the front. "I already know what I'm going to do."

"Yare~ You're confident you'll pass?" His hand reached up and collected the hat and put it between us as it slide once more in front of my eyes.

I grinned and then smacked at his crawling hand. He whined slightly but retracted it back to his chest. "I think I'll make good on that promise to the Sou-taicho."

"Promise?"

"To touch his feet."

Kyoraku-taicho only sighed lightly before rocking onto his back. His hand sprung out of nowhere and attempted to gather me close, but I deftly flipped over him and told him to get back to his division and his 'lovely Lisa-chan'. I had orders to fulfill anyway, because if I didn't get to Kisuke first then Yoruichi really would go and attempt to burn his lab to the ground.

"What's that brain of yours cooking up now Kisuke?"

His gray eyes popped out from behind a pile of gigai, another experiment that he was always tinkering with. He looked exhausted, with his eyes falling as he stood and that slump in his shoulder. No wonder Yoruichi had me come and try to knock some sense into him. To my dismay he went on about with a few excuses about something and then his mumbles tappered off somewhere as he started narrating in his head. I narrowed my eyes. The only time he kept secrets like this when either when he hadn't figured out how to proceed with a project, or when he was just on the cusp of a breakthrough and didn't want anyone to know about it just yet. Anything he deemed to dangerous or simply too personal were kept far from wandering eyes.

I looked around at the room. I walked straight into the individual lab that Kisuke had built slightly offsight from the second division. He used this as his getaway area. However, even with the funds that Kisuke was able to use, his maintanence of the place was really falling through. With who knows how many tests he runs and of what kinds, the structure was literally begging for me to tear it down. I was a bit scared of coming into this place with the state of it.

"Come on. Let's just sit outside and get some air." I hoisted him by his collar and took his outside into the air. He didn't try to get out of my leeching fingers, which was a good sign. It meant that I wasn't interrupting something that important. Otherwise he'd be throwing some sort of fit. "Why aren't you going up for the promotion?"

"I like my position here."

"You have a great potential to be captain Kisuke."

"So do you."

I stared at his immovable face. He was drifting somewhere off into space where science ruled. I sighed and leant against the building, though I still held most of my weight. Who knows when this thing could collapse?

"I though you'd want the promotion... I mean, isn't freedom what you want? You'd get your own funding to run all your experiments… You could even make the division some sort of lab. You know that you'd still have Yoruichi's and I's support."

"I'd never be free as a captain. There're too many rules to abide by."

"I hate the rules too, but I go about my business with my head down so that I can break them... You could do the same."

He sighed and finally detached from the world that he was in. He knew that he couldn't be having a conversation with me like this if he wasn't fully present. "I'm not like you... I don't have the talents to lead."

"I've learnt those."

"You know that I'm just not up to teaching and mentoring like you or Yoruichi."

I stayed silent seeing if he would say anything else but he remained silent. His jaw was ticking, like the internal timer he was working on. "I think, right now, you're more focused on what you're hiding from us."

He clenched up, shoulders coming together and neck arching, and then, instantaneously, he let it go. He stood and beckoned me inside the lab. Whatever it was must have been done if he was showing it to me. It also must have been something that he was still running tests on because he kept those in the far back so that no one would tamper or accidently get hurt by them.

"Kisuke… what the hell is that?" I stared at the glowing orb that he had taken out from somewhere.

"I call it the Hogyoku."

"And what is it supposed to do?"

"I've been testing on it recently… It reacts to just about everything. Reishi, reiryoku, and, of course, reiatsu…"

"But what does it do?"

"I'm still testing on it. I haven't figured out all the mechanics of it."

I stared at him. His face was oddly illuminated by the spiraling ball. I could somehow get over the fact that he was using himself in his new experiment, because at the very least that was better than subjecting it on someone esle. The idea still worried me. Anything could go wrong at this point. It didn't feel right, and the orb set something a kin to anger in me. Kisuke was looking at it was the most fascination I had ever seen, opening himself up for all types of horrible consequences.

"Why have you been keeping this a secret? What are you worried about?"

"My mind's been going frantic at the thought of its potential. No one else has done work with condensed reishi like this before, so I have no idea what it can do... But it's gotten me thinking about Hollows."

"Hollows?"

"Do you know what happens when a soul dies? - It's flesh and body becomes part of the atmosphere by breaking down to reishi particles... In essence hollows and pluses are made out of the same matter, so what goes wrong during the transformation process?

\- Shinigami have been building their ideology about the bad feelings that transform them, but what if there's a more scientific reason... It must have something to do with the way that the reishi is condensed and made into reiryoku. - If that's the case, then using a bit of a theoretical jump, shinigami can become hollows… With something of an outside catalyst, like this."

"Become... Shit. Kisuke what exactly are you saying?"

"What if Shinigami could obtain a hollow's condensed reiryoku. What would happen..."

My brain filtered out the rest of what he was saying. That look on his face. It wasn't the orb that had scared me so much as the way it reflected Kisuke's face. His eyes had shown over in some sort of daze as he was frantically muttering out theories. Certainly they were intellectual leaps, but if Kisuke was thinking about them then the plausibility was high. He had been trapped inside his head, running so many theories, he almost didn't appear to be...

"Kisuke... stop... stop!" His mumbling ceased and he finally looked at me for the first time of the afternoon. The shining light seemed to vanish from his face and I could recognize this nervous man in front of me. "You know that I'd never tell you what to do. Never. I get your want to know everything, but don't you think this is far enough? - It's not even about creating hybrids or whatever. You know I have no care for that like other Shinigami. It's about your future. I could have you exiled for what you're even saying right now."

"Yuko-"

"I won't stop you. I'd never stop you from doing this, because you've never stopped me from doing what I want... I- I'm curious as well, but can you just... go slow? I just get this bad feeling that if you rush something will seriously go wrong."

 _You're right to be, Ayake-sama._

"I," Kisuke looked at the orb and then closed his hand over it. He wouldn't let go of the idea. It'd always be sitting there, waiting to be discovered, because that's what scientists do. "I see your concern."

"Don't speak of word of this to anyone. You're lucky that Yoruichi doesn't have enough curiosity to come do here and see what you're doing... And keep that thing so damn secret that even you almost forget about it."

The man gave me a firm nod, letting his childlike curiosity end before me and stowed it away. I was right to keep him cautious. My teeth gritted at the mere mention of what he had been talking about. I hadn't been able to distract him at all from what he wanted to discover. I could have tried harder. Should have, really. I had faith that if anyone could do it, it was Kisuke but there's no way that the Gotei 13 would accept this. He's a dead man walking.

 _Hollowfication…._ I didn't understand the full explination but it sounded as if our reiryokus were brother and sister. If the Hogyoku reacted to Shinigami reiatsu then it could potentially also react to hollow reiryoku. Thereby working as the connection between the two, as Kisuke thought. Or maybe it did something entirely different and it would fall through. I could only hope for that.

 _Ayake-sama._

 _Kumo?_

 _That's the residue that has been on Aizen's reiatsu._

I flung my head back towards the lab that I had retreated from. Kisuke had locked himself in after a firm promise that he would leave in the next hour. If he wasn't back then I warned him that Yoruichi would be after his head, and then would proceed to burn the very lab she had let him set up.

 _Are you telling me that Aizen has a hogyoku?_

 _Yes, Ayake-sama… I couldn't recognize it before but the particles that surrounded that orb and the ones I've seen on Aizen are the exact same._

Aizen was also fooling around with something that could use the Hogyoku, then. All of Shinji's words and questions about his lieutenant seemed to come back to me and a firm hole created in my stomach. Shinji had been worried all this time because Aizen was lying; the man that couldn't be trusted behind the most carefully created mask of all time. How Shinji had recognized it was another matter, but Shinji was right. Something was definitely up with Aizen and it was just because the hogyoku should not have been used.

 _…_ _. This is fucking terrible._

 _Yes, it is Ayake-sama._

 _We'll tread carefully then…. We're already in the game now._

 _I'm with you._

 _And I'm so fucking thankful for that Kumo_


	40. Chapter 39

I took a deep inhale in and then breathed it out with a heavy growl. I focused on releasing the tension in my back and in my shoulders by moving them in waves. I twisted my neck around and then hopped slightly in place to get all the blood going. I fixed the hold in my hair, and then my eyes snapped open. I took another breath and then released, pushing out the excess energy and the anxiety that was building up. I quickly pushed aside the ideas of having those feelings, as just the mere thought had my heart clenching from tension again.

The doors were opened and I was greeted by Ukitake-taicho who smiled immediately. However, unlike our normal, we were both here under ceremonial procedures and I was not allowed to speak at all. He opened his arms up and gestured for me to enter the room for the examination. I marched in with as much confidence, reminding me slightly of the time when I had twisted the doorknob for the lieutenant's meeting. It was that same feeling of bittersweetness. I could be leaving everything behind me.

I calmly walked in and then kneeled in front of the other spectators who were acting as examine practioners. Kuchiki Ginrei, Aikawa Love, and Ukitake Jushiro. It was slightly surprising to see that it was Ukitake-taicho seeing as there was a slight emotional connection between the two of us. They must not have thought that it would make him too biased.

I bowed low as my eyes fell upon the Sou-taicho, but he only grunted out a few words to get me to sit up again. Much like the exams for the entrance exam, I'd have to be able to successfully fulfill different sections: mental reasonining, psychology, and physical. Captains were not just made from their tremendous strengths, although the eleventh would have you believe otherwise, but also made from their mental abilities as well.

"Ayake Ichiyuko… Have you come to touch my feet?"

I wasn't expecting that question so soon. I thought that it might come up given my penchant for getting him to admonish me in that regard. I supposed it would have been later that he would make a remark like that. Then again, anyone could be physically strong but few could have the mental strength to endure, I supposed.

"This is an opportunity to speak freely, is it not, Sou-taicho?" All the captains nodded their heads, although they all looked a bit flustered at the head captain's question. I stopped the beating of my heart with a small intake. "To touch your feet would be a gross comparision of my abilities Sou-taicho. I have neither the physical powress nor the spiritual one that you possess. It would be inaccurate to claim that I want to touch your feet."

There was a moment of silence and I saw one of his eyes creak open. It occurred so slowly that I knew it was not from surprise nor from evaluation, just mere acknowledgement. "Continue with your explination."

"It's inaccurate because you are not the goal that I am competiting against… To touch your feet would be saying that I am attempting to be like you, which is not the case. I am attempting to only be like me."

"Another interesting answer you've come up with." I bowed my head and then brought it back up. It hadn't gone terribly wrong like I had pictured. None of the captains seemed the least bit perturbed or offended by what I had said either, which was a good sign. "Tell me then, what do you believe the Gotei 13 strives for?"

"In acknowledging the many factors that one may have to join, I'd say that the two that trump are duty and honor."

"And what are those?"

"Duty is to the obligations that must be fulfilled to the Gotei 13 itself, but honor is a personal reason that if not achieved is a fault on the individual soul."

His second eye came open and I felt like I was in a death match. His reiatsu had stayed calm this whole time, hidden away in the shrewd lie of his body. Even with more reiatsu than previously I was still quaking at the thought of those fires around my neck. I swallowed but he made no moves of doing anything else.

"What is your honor then?"

"My honor is the ability to protect those that I value the closest to me. When I can fulfill that then I can focus on protecting the ones more distant."

"So you have fulfilled protecting those closest to you?"

"That's an everyday challenge, Sou-taicho… But, yes, I can protect them."

I finally heard the scratch of something on paper. I bravely unlocked from the Sou-taicho to see that Aikawa-taicho was scribbling something done. Perhaps there was some kind of form that they had to fill out with their observations. The inner working of the captain's test was not known far and wide, so it was all just speculation.

My feet were growing numb from having sat back on them and cut off the blood circulation. I couldn't move without causing scene, so I just let them fall into a doze with the static feeling coming over my legs. I leaned forward just slightly to put the weight onto my thighs, but then that was it, and I looked back at the Sou-taicho who had let his eyes fall to there tiny slits again.

"What do you think of perfection, child?"

Now this was an odd question indeed. It was so philosophical in its nature that not even Kisuke could get out of talking about it when it came to science. It didn't seem like the thing to ask on this type of exam at all, like a fake trick question in the fifty. My eyes narrowed into focus. It didn't stop me from having to answer the question though.

"Perfection is unobtainable."

"Proceed."

My hands fisted slightly. If I didn't let them do something then they'd be up and making a mess of my hair. "Isn't that too broad of a question, sir? …. Inherently philosophical in its meaning. Are you asking me what I think of our perfection? What is the soul's ability to achieve perfection? That would still be unobtainable."

"Then ideals are what?"

"Ideals are commonly shared beliefs to give souls a target to strive for. I suppose you could say that captains work as ideals, but it is more that the idea of what a captain should be is what is held as the ideal."

"You admit faults."

"Of course. - The only thing I want to strive to achieve is not a faultless self, but a self that can work past faults."

Abruptly the man came to a stand, and I had to lean back to look up at him. His eyes had opened slightly and he made a swift walk to towards the door. I looked over towards the three captains who looked placated and unmoving, before turning back to him. When it slide to the side, I could see Chojiro behind the screen. He was beckoned to stand in the center of the room.

 _The physical part as now started, Ayake-sama._

 _Appears so. - Ready then Kumo?_

 _It was you that I was waiting for._

 _Hush you damn spider. I'm here now._

I stood up and made my way towards the center without the Sou-taicho's asking. It was clear what was going to have to happen. I had noticed it a while ago but Chojiro easily had enough skill and reiatsu to become captain himself. It was probably just that he didn't want to be. I had known a few very capable fighters that were fine staying in seated ranks to follow their captain. Kisuke was one of them, and I presumed Isshin would have been too if I hadn't made that deal with him.

The room had settled down and I heard the bark of an order to release to bankai. My ears flooded over and I watched as the other lieutenant released first. I now felt relaxed. The tension that was in my body from having to answer those questions was slowly disapperating. It was one thing to be judged on your thoughts, and another to be judged for a criteria of skill. One could be completely misplaced and you could never understand what went wrong. The other was a matter of training and hard-work to achieve the necessary requirement.

I closed my eyes and released all the breath in my lungs. Sliding Kumo out from the sheath, he easily came into his shikai. "Bankai: Kumo no Ningyo Tsukai."

I felt small in my own bed for once. I had been able to sleep in late today, since Yoruichi said that I needed a bit of a break. It had been a week since the exam, and the answer would be released today. If I got lucky, a first division messenger would arrive. If not, I'd be stuck at fuku-taicho until another opportunity opened up for me.

I curled up a bit tighter into a ball, and spied at Kumo who was laying next to me. My eyes clenched at the thought that everything rested on this moment. Either I would stay the same, or I would be irrevocably changed in these next moments. All of our hard work coming down to a knock on the door.

I clenched my hand around where the blade was hidden in its sheath, and then brought it closer to my chest. Knocking my head against the hilt, I breathed and breathed and breathed. My stomach rumbled at empty anticipation, and the blood spiked as I felt a new reiatsu suddenly appear. Moments later I was clattering to the floor in the wake of hearing a knock.

I flung it open and saw that the decision had been made. Quickly they ushered me from my room and over to the first division. My heart gathered into my throat, as they started measuring me out for the right lengths. I choked through telling them not to give me sleeves. My feet twitched with every passing second until the seamstress finally brought back the cloth.

Slowly I took the weight upon my hands, and unraveled it from its folds. The white fabric snapped with a crispness that I hadn't expected as went through the air. It as soft beneath my hands, like the first yukata I had ever touched in my life. I had gone from wearing paper cloth, to warm wool. My mouth drew out to a smile and I slowly let my thumbs move. From a whorehouse to the top of the Gotei 13.

Leaving a few chuckles in my chest, I brought the fabric up and around, before swishing my arms through the holes. I took up the fabric again and tugged it so it rested correctly on my shoulders. I felt a few pats of hands as the seamstress was making sure that it fell to the right length and wasn't tight in any places. I breathed.

 _Kumo…_

 _Yes, Ayake-sama. I know._

 _Thank you._

 _You said that I was you, and you were me. Thank only your perseverance._

 _Then I'll thank the part of me that brought you to me._

I took the haori off, and made a clean sweep out of the room. Tomorrow would be the official regonition of my captaincy. Today, however, would be my intimate gathering of friends. My feet fumbled slightly as they fell, and it gave me pause to think. With the air around me, only one person was the one that I really wanted to tell. Kisuke had probably heard from Yoruichi. Shinji would know by tomorrow and that'll be a good sight to see. I'd go for Isshin in the next coming days with a recruitment, although not to fuku-taicho yet.

 _Yeah…_

Although he probably knew already, Ukitake-taicho was the one that I wanted to share the moment with. The man that kept helping with my training even though I unloaded a lot of frustration and anxiety on him. If it was Ukitake-taicho then it also meant that it was Kyoraku-taicho, since the two were near impossible to celebrate. The thought didn't seem so terrible though. Celebrating with my two favorite captains of the whole Gotei 13.

To my surprise, when I arrived, Kyoraku-taicho wasn't there. Ukitake-taicho, greeted me with that same smile although there was that note of self-satisfaction as he took me in. He swept me across the grounds, and towards the veranda that we had shared from the beginning.

"Did I just see you get flustered Kyoraku?" I asked, a smirk making its way along my face. The man jerked slightly, eyeing me with that same cautious eye as he had done with Lisa. The woman had once again found an inappropriate manner to wake him up, apparently. "Maybe I should start talking to you like that."

"I wouldn't want you to do that, Yuko-chan... I doubt I would be able to control my reaction." The heaviness set back into his eyes. His smile twisted up, until there was that oglying look in it. His arms came to drap around me like his reiatsu, attempting to drag me towards him. "The informality is new."

"I'm a captain now. I have no reason to call you taicho." I waved past his incoming arms and over to Ukitake.

"Yare~ So dangerous. - Matte, why are you calling him by his first name?" Kyoraku spun me around with a grip on my shoulder and had taken to leaning over me slightly, that droopy, whiny voice coming about.

I had called Ukitake by his first name, as he asked when he found out during our afternoon tea after my promotion. I had repeated it continuously in my head to get used to the sounds, and then said it outloud so that my mouth would form the words. But I could do it now, straight to his face. He looked relieved and inspired by the familiarity, wrapping it in another smile.

"Shunsui."

Kyoraku eye's stayed firmly onto mine, leaking into them. I felt as if I was being stroked, my body twitching like he had grazed his fingers over my skin. He had become a bit more erect, the foolish look disapearing, and there was an eager seriousness in the way that he looked at me. I felt dressed down, and at the same time built up.

My throat instantly closed up, pruning with sudden dryness in the heat of his body. My shoulders hacked up as my heart began to race. My entire body felt as if it was pounding with the effects of the new heartbeat.

"Yuko-"

"I'm sticking with Kyoraku from now on."

"Why~?" His whininess came back and I felt like I could breathe again.

With a laugh, I pushed the two elder captains ahead of me. It was time to start the ceremony, so they'd be entering first.

 _Because I don't think my heart can take that look, Kyoraku._

 _Finally realized Ayake-sama?_

 _... I'm doomed._

Kumo's laughs overpowered the call for me to enter the Gotei 13 main meeting room. He didn't settle at all, not even for a minute. Of course he would laugh at me coming to the two biggest revelations of my life in just two days: one, that I was now the captain that I had always wanted to become, and two, that I was in love with a pervert of a captain by the name of Kyoraku Shunsui.


	41. Chapter 40

**A/N: Another time jump up to the present day time when the war begins.**

The rips in the atmosphere slowly appeared and the out stepped Aizen and all his army. My eyes slotted down and I looked over to the man that had caused all of this. He hadn't changed a bit in appearance, minus the riddance of his glasses and his hair being slicked back. The major change came from his easily flaring reiatsu and the look at what had lain behind the mask all those years ago.

"It would seem that we have made it in time."

I filtered out Aizen's words as my eyes flickered around, taking in all of his major players. In terms of number we did exceed them. There was a guy with a child, a woman with her three groupies, and then an older man that had brought four along. I sighed slightly and shifted in my crouch. In terms of power they could probably out do us.

 _Why'd the geezer put up such a shield? Shinji and the rest won't make it in._

 _Will you do something about that Ayake-sama?_

 _…_ _Under that man's gaze I won't be doing any moving._

I shuffled slightly and remembered the definite words that the Sou-taicho had given me. I had woken up in the fourth division, just on the eve of battle. Everything they had locked had come undone and I was free to do what I wanted. However, if participation in the war was what I wanted, then I had to follow of the rules, under the direct command of the Sou-taicho.

"Oh, that's an old face." I slowly slide my eyes over towards Gin who had called out to me with a nonchalant wave. I raised a brow and gave him a small little flick of my hand. "How ya been Yuko-san?"

"You've gotten taller pipsqueak."

I could hear the rustle of voices come through the wind from all the captains that were updating their data books. Only the captains and I knew all the details of how we were attempting to demolish an entire army of strong espada, his top three from what I could see, and win a war. The rest were all antsy pulling together whatever information they could string.

"A pleasure as always, Ayake."

"Funny you say that Aizen." The man only smiled with his new found confidence. If anything, at least I could say it was a pleasure to see the man that we were going to stop as he stood. The difference will be something spectacular.

I somersaulted a few times backwards and then hopped down some as the Sou-taicho lit his zanpakuto into flames. All those conscious enough to know the man for longer than a few years, knew the commander's impatcience when it came to war. I let out a huff at the flames that came to encircle and shroud around the three villainous ex-captains.

 _I really hate to be them._

 _You used to be, Ayake-sama._

 _…_ _. Fair point._

Sou-taicho above all else hated treason. He was a man of duty and of honor. He held pride in the very place he was to protect, and he left the name to stand for itself. When I was found "guilty" of crimes I was lucky not to face him, although he did come once to visit right at the beginning of my stay. I had to be resuscitated more than five times before he left the room never to return again.

In the wake of the true treason, he had me fight my way out, giving me a time frame of twenty minutes. Unlocking the reiatsu cuffs had me reeling for at least five, and then I had to scramble my way through the hoards in the maggot's nest with over a hundred years of depravity on my shoulders. I had gotten to the doors, stark naked, and stumbled into the halls where Kyoraku-taicho and Ukitake-taicho found me. The Sou-taicho had offered no apologies. It wasn't even his last punishment.

 _In consolation_ , my eyes wandering over to his figure, _I think he knows that a sorry would never allow me to forgive him._

He had not only destroyed me but everything I had worked for. When I woke up I found out that all the programs I had implemented over the glorious fifteen years of captaincy were demolished. He had found no need to keep even a slight bit of evidence that I had any shreds of humanity.

 _"_ _You understand your position in this war then, child."_

 _I nodded in affirmation from my upright seat on the bed. I had only woken up a few moments ago and I was already being told to get back to sleep to have energy for the war tomorrow. All the plans were in place, I found out what they were as he had gone along with his explanation, minus the fact that the Ichigo-boyo had gone into Hueco Mundo. I had shrugged at that I told him to send Kisuke after them, and there would be no problem._

 _I had found the irony in the Sou-taicho's reliance on the exiled ex-captain, even though he had accused me of the same thing. I ignored it, for the anger between us had finally died. Whatever was left in him flickered out, as I was given back my abilities through the pain._

 _"_ _I understand Sou-taicho." He nodded and was proceeding out the door. Just like that I was on the front lines and my abilities returned. "Do you believe forgiveness is a possibility Sou-taicho?"_

 _He body came to a halt but he remained staring forward at the open door. "Proceed."_

 _"_ _I don't know what forgiveness is… I wished to know your answer, if you would share it with me."_

 _"_ _Forgiveness is a feeling above personal revenge and hatred."_

 _"_ _Is that what it is?" I whispered it more to myself, and clenched my hands into my leggings. When I looked up the man had already walked away, leaving the door open for me to follow if I so chose._

"Now then, shall we crush them at our leisure?"

I eyed at the shift in direction towards the older man. It seemed that the espada would be taking direction from him. I paused as I gave him a good scan; from his wide body to the crown on his head and then a slightly more in-depth look. My eyes narrowed and I rolled them. He had gotten his guards to get him a throne, as if he could sit mounted on the world as a king.

 _Certainly in the top two, right, Kumo?_

 _I'd say that your abilities haven't grown weary even though they have been severally diluted._

"… Is it really necessary to go through so much trouble? Earlier you mentioned the situation was similar to "erecting pillars in four directions, and with that power we switched the towns". - If that's the case then we'll just destroy the pillars."

 _My god, what an idiot._

I huffed at the small-time that he was sending over towards the pillars. Soi-fon's lieutenant really acted nothing like he should of as well. It seems that everything has really slipped. Everyone used to train hard, and everyone used to work hard. There were no excuses and there was nothing of taking people lightly. Over-confidence or cowardess seemed to ratte through the bones of both sides.

 _As if we didn't create a contingency_.

"Did you think that I would not have deployed anyone to such important locations?" I grunted slightly at the Sou-taicho's statement. He had lived through more than enough battles to be able to know the own weaknesses of his tactics. "More than capable people have been placed there for that very reason."

The flare of reiatsus from the pillar was slightly impressive. All of them had to be at least lieutenant level. I side glanced again at the second division lieutenant who was going off on some tangent. His father, who had stepped in after me and then took over from Yoruichi after the deception, was much better in that position. How'd he create such a coward for a son?

"And you! Did you know?"

I tucked my head backwards at his address and looked at him. He had pointed a finger, trying to at least pick out someone who had been left behind in the planning. I slunk my shoulders down with a sigh and then turned my head back around.

"I'm not an idiot."

"I'm a lieuten-"

"Listen." I kept my head straight forward and watched as the four new enemies approached the pillars. At least these were a good representation of worthiness for the Gotei 13. "I don't have time to fuck around with some prissy ass noble boyo… This is war. Get your shit together."

There was a silence that fell upon us, with only a few clatterings of the beginnings of battle. The rest of the captains were eyeing the espada that were slowly stepping down from the positions in the air, so that they would come level to us.

"Yuko-chan is so harsh." I turned over towards Kyoraku who was scratching his cheek lightly.

I shrugged. "Not my problem if some don't bother to crack open a text book, nor are trained properly."

"I told you," Soi-fon cut through knowing that the jab was for her and her misfit of a lieutenant, "the training changed from over a hundred years ago."

"Yeah, who do you think you are anyway?"

The captains simultaneously released a sigh and I heard Soi-fon let out a few more unpleasantly demeaning comments. My textbook comment may not have been correct. After all, I could have been written out of it. I sighed and slowly turned my head to finally acknowledge the plump lieutenant who had once again stuck a finger in my face.

"Ayake Ichiyuko. Former fukutaicho of the Second Division and former Co-Commander of the Onmitsukido, as well as Former Tenth Division taicho…"

My next words were cut off by the release of an arrancar's sealed form. I tucked in my senses to the new feeling, and let it wash over my body. It was the first time I would be feeling something like this, in the last one hundred years. It was different from the Vizards, as they had taken to calling themselves, being more Hollow than Shinigami. It radiated that sinking feeling that came along with a hollow's despair.

 _What a horrible talent that one has_.

My eyes shifted back round as I felt the enemy reiatsu slowly disappear. Seemed like there was some sort of mask that was going around the two that had been flaring. Then when it disappeared the arrancar was left drained of everything that it had had. It made for a very efficient and quick fight, but it was a horrible way to go.

It had come down to two remaining enemy reiatsus when one of the pillars had finally cracked and gone down. The resounding shock of it left the captains feeling a bit stilted, with all of them looking back in shock. From what I had been told, he was one of the few from the eleventh division. He was also the only one that had been keeping his powers hidden, as if he didn't know that all the captain's could already sense it.

"Madarame…"

"Been beaten?"

"Stop." The sou-taicho's words were quiet, but they came out like the heat from a burning fire; so far and strong that one needed to take several steps back. I turned my head slightly to see that his words were directly to the fox captain that had started to move. "Ayake, you will go."

"Sou—"

He merely put his hand up, which for the old man was a lot and the ramblings stopped. He turned his head slightly towards me and nodded. With a sigh, I stood up and started to amble my way over to the crumbling pillar. I nodded my head over towards the fuku-taicho that was carrying the tools to stop the regression of the process Kisuke had set up. With a small glance, he followed after me.

"Neh, Sou-taicho." I carried on my walk, but I knew that he could still hear me from the pat of his cane. "I asked you about forgiveness… Now that I've thought about it, here's my answer. – Bit more complex than yours. Forgiveness is the ability to still be honorable even in the sight of the people that have wronged you…. To let honor lead where hate could fester."

"Proceed."

"I forgave the Gotei 13 for their actions, because the people that I honor are still here and I'll still die for that."

I looked over towards my two favorite captains. Although they were worried they finally looked like they were consenting to my forgiveness. While I had said it before, because somewhere in my heart I had given up the hatred since I knew they had felt the same betrayal I had. They just weren't feeling betrayed by the same person. We were all intimately connected from that time, and all equally hurt by it. Two sides of the same coin damaged, and therefore both victims. They hadn't known that I had forgiven them, but I had already. Now, we could go on freely with the rest of our lives, since they were finally going to accept it.

I heard the faint whisper of "interesting", before I took two flash-steps to cover for the time and the distance. The fuku-taicho had run ahead to make sure that the regression wouldn't be too off guard but even then I could easily catch up with him. Underneath the shades of his eyes, I could see the wary flicker over to me.

"Don't worry Iba." As if I hadn't recognized the scowl that was adorning his face like his mother's. "This is why I'm here. – You're captain was needed to hold a front on the front lines… I'm everyone's backup."

I waved him behind my back, and then jumped quickly to shoot a double-leg kick towards the enemy. The arrancar went tumbling backwards into a wall even toppling a few building in the back because of his height, and Iba went about putting the sticks into place. There was a conversation going on, but I remained indifferent looking towards the enemy that was still twitching.

I shook out my leg slightly and watched as the arrancer flipped up out of the ground. He was a giant of a thing, wearing tradition garb. He was all arms and torso and very little on the legs. His face looked completely unmarked from the bullet of a kick I had used and was slowly massaging it out. I took the remaining time to take in the bowl cut and the awkward triangle tattoos on his face.

I could hear the whispers of the two behind me as they were going on about the height difference. It must have looked very comical. With me being only slightly taller than Yoruichi, the arrancar was kind of like the skyscrapers that I had heard mention of. The new voice, which was Madarame, was whispering about how he thought I shouldn't be going up against such a thing. I huffed, and scratched at my neck.

 _Oh… He was talking._

"…It was not a real hit."

The arm came flinging backwards, and I slipped into a shunpo to miss it. It was strong enough that even then, I was sent back a bit from the force of air. When I turned my head behind me to see what the two were shouting about, I could make out the tunnel that the man had drawn through the streets. He had uplifted pavements, buildings, and wirings. A few were coming crashing down as I was just looking at it.

 _What a punch._

 _He's releasing his zanpakuto, Ayake-sama._

"I will show you what is known as a supreme punch… Blow, Calderon." The arrancar bowed over as his head began to enlarge. Whatever was there then pillaged down and his form grew bigger and bigger, with his mask coming all the way down to the ground. He let out a tremendous laugh, before eyeing the three of us. "Crushing things is so troublesome."

 _Tsk._

I pushed the two lieutenants away as the fist was coming down straight towards their running figures. It made sense that they were running, but they should not have been so damn afraid. I stepped up, although I heard Iba trying to get me to move backwards, and unseathed Kumo.

Releasing him, I took the blow into my two hands, winding the strands around the arrancar's wrist and making the blow come to a halt. Breathing in deeply, I clenched around and brought the skyscraper up and over my head sending him flinging into the buildings that were once in front of us.

"Who are you?"

The wobblying mass was still trying to get up, so it was better to keep an eye on him, but I allowed myself a small satisfaction with a quick peek. The two men, one on the floor from his injuries, were staring at me with full on shock. I could see the sweat that was pouring down their faces from the restless adrenaline that hadn't expired yet.

"Ayake Ichiyuko… Now, don't be afraid – Didn't I tell you this is what I'm here for?" Iba twitched and started to stand up a bit straighter. I gave him a smirk for his grand attempt at covering up his nervousness and for building resolve. "Stay behind me, and I'll protect you."

"Yes ma'am."


	42. Chapter 41

The monster came to life with full laughter coming off of its tongue. He broke through the buildings that were on top of him and came up to his feet. "That didn't do anything you insect. - It did surprise me though, that a female insect like you could toss me a fraccion of Barragan-sama."

I sighed and found his words fading away in my consciousness. _These men are just too egotistical. Whatever happened to go old confidence?_

 _Will you do something about that Ayake-sama?_

 _He's attempting a cero…_

 _Yes._

 _Well, I can't let everything get destroyed._

I looked up to see that the cero that was going to be coming down from his mouth. It was a waving ball of red reiatsu in a dark cavern of his mouth. I heard a few intakes of breath from the men behind me, but I knew that they were standing firm with the resolve that they had found.

I jumped up quickly, and took his teeth in my hands before sliding over the top of his head and towards the ground behind his giant body. The muscles in my arms were popping from the momentum I had to use, along with the strength but it was working as his head back to tilt back. Finally, with one last grunt and a thrust, his head snapped backwards and his mouth went straight up.

The cero split the sky as it shattered up against the atmosphere. There were a few resounding shudders, and I teetered with the arrancar that was trying to maintain his balance. With another quick shove, I unlatched myself and got him onto his back. As the monster was falling, I put the backs of my hands together and then shot my nails up. I saw as they went straight through the skull that he once used and then heard that shattering of his closed teeth as I pushed them through those as I ripped him in half; starting with splitting the head, and then slowly working my hands down until he was nothing more than two torn sides that were falling beside me.

"Holy shit." Those were the words that I came down to as I made due with sinking Kumo back into place.

When I landed on the ground, I found the two talking about all sorts of interesting things. It was actually a bit surprising to have them talking about the pride of fighting. I didn't think the younger generation had any experience with knowing about it.

 _Don't overestimate yourself, Ayake-sama._

 _No- I learnt that a while ago. I was just surprised._

 _I understand, but you haven't interacted with any of them nearly as much as you should have._

 _…_ _. True._

I tuned back in when the bald one was punched right in the face. This lieutenant was really shaping out to be just like his mother with his obedience towards the regulations. Although the informality of his voice was probably enough to get him badgered by the old woman that I had known.

"Yer just relyin' on everyone else, and then you can lose with that carefree look on your face – since somewhere in your heart you know that someone else will take yer place if you die."

"Did I just hear you, right? Did you say that I lose with a carefree look on my face?"

"Am I wrong?"

"You son of a bitch." The man hurled his broken zanpakuto along with his words towards the lieutenant.

The lieutenant easily caught the flimsy swing and made due with a few cross words, before knocking the injured one to the ground. I rasied my eyebrow at the rough interaction that was obviously not just from anger and a frustration, but also habit. They must have been good friends before everything else. Seeing a friend lose is enough to get a fire burning.

"Whether you scamper off or run 'em clean through, it don't mean jack unless ya win."

"Like I could fight in such a cowardly way."

 _Yup… Division eleven alright._

The bald flinched at the sudden declare from his teammate, and all the resistance in his resigned to the side. Iba continued through, standing much like his mother when she wanted something to get done. "If you're gonna insist on bein' stubborn, then use yer true power…. If yer gonna fight then win, even if it kills you. - That is being rational."

"Alright." I clapped my hands together and split the tension. The two jumped their looks over towards me shifting towards something of guilt. "Get back to your captain, Iba."

I could see the group above was shifting, and when I pointed it out I knew that the two were registering that this was still a war. The two sides had only begun to start fighting and there was more to come. Iba bowed low and then disappeared back up to the sky.

The flares were becoming beckons, slowly intensifying. I looked up to see that the captains and lieutenants were beginning to splinter off and match up. Iba's captain and I were seemingly going to be taking care of the back-up duty, which was more than annoying. I could already tell that the Sou-taicho would keep the captain somewhat as a personal guard, and send me running around. After all, I was a vital asset in the war.

I sighed and looked at the bald man that was staring up at the sky as well. Slowly, he gaze flickered down to me, and he shot an eyebrow up. I cocked my head and let his eyes gradually roam over me. Above I could faintly make out the words of the Sou-taicho's call for death and war, and it reminded me faintly of the situation that the bald Shinigami had fallen into.

"Would you really have let yourself die?"

"Yes." Not even a second of doubt in his statement, nor a moment of pause. He really did fit division eleven, although it was a bit strange.

"Don't you like fighting at full power?"

The man shifted around and checked over his zanpakuto, before letting the pieces fall to the ground around him. My eyes unintentionally narrowed at the careless action that he was using. Zanpakuto's are our spirit; to treat them as anything else was a sin. Or so I had grown into thinking that way. Other's had varying beliefs.

"I like fighting." He scratched at the top of his head before glancing over at me. "Shouldn't you be up there?"

"No." I shook my head and then smirked at his bemused glance. There was a rift forming and the tension could be felt down to here. "That's not my role…. Besides, I trust them."

"Even though we locked you away?"

"Oh~ So some do know history… Very few seemed to have recognized me." The man let out a small noise, and patted down at his wounds slightly. I came stalking up, and settled down in front of him. My kaido was rusty but it would save him a little bit of time. "I'm here now. That's all that matters I guess."

"Shouldn't you be saving your energy?" He hands came to swat at me, but maneuvered around them each time until he just got fed up and leaned back slightly. "You're a tough bitch."

"I'll take that as a compliment from a division eleven member… By the way, you do realize that all the captain's already know about your bankai, right?"

"What?"

"Doesn't matter how good you are at hiding or controlling your reiatsu, it's noticeable."

"Shit."

I rolled my eyes and I continued to work in silence. Every now and then I could make out the clashes that were moving around in the air around us. There were already quite a few releases to shikai, though none of the arrancars had released yet. A shinigami's shikai is just a touch lower than an arrancar's sealed state. My eyes narrowed at the flare in Soi-fon's reiatsu, but I settled my face down.

"Tsk."

"What?" The bald man looked down to his wounds, but I had already moved back and was standing up. He came to a stand as well, although much more unsurely. "Something about the fight?"

"That second division lieutenant is an idiot."

"Then you'll get involved?"

"No…. I'm under the Sou-taicho's direct orders only." My eyes came to wander of his torso, for a moment before I looked up at him. "Kaido isn't my strength, so sorry if you still feel pain."

The man shook out his head and then followed by wringing his shoulders around. "Good enough…. Still ain't no way I'm fighting with Hozukimaru like that."

I hummed in response to the comment and slowly turned to look at the uprooted streets. It would all return to normal when this was done, and his zanpakuto would be healed. I closed my eyes shut and sighed.

 _Maybe I'll talk to Kyoraku properly._

 _You'll just give yourself to that man?_

 _I thought you got over your jealousy?_

 _…_ _Not even close._

My lips split into a tiny smile but I smothered it down. The man made me cry so Kumo had started up his protective streak again, although he and I both knew that what he said went through one ear and out the other.

 _Slowly I came around. My eyes could barely see through the darkness, but my ears were still working. My brain was just starting to register the sounds of footsteps and something clanking up against the metal. They had thrown me in this cell, newly crafted just for me, at the back of the Maggot's Nest. It was reiatsu inhibiting and was draining me every second, just to the point where I became useless. I would survive, but I would be inept in everything but walking._

 _My eyes came onto the stones that I was using as a pillow. Everything here was dark and there was dirt that had been sloshed with some water, to make into a thin mud substance. It was helping to work as a conductor for whatever kido they had placed around. I leveraged myself, somehow, and sat up. Instantly, I leaned back into the wall as far as I could go._

 _My wrists were shackled down to my ankles, so I couldn't be very far backwards without tipping over or sending my legs up. If I needed to travel, I had to do so squatting. So I mostly just remained in my closed knee squat. I was lucky that I had no injuries there yet, or otherwise it would make doing anything impossible._

 _I rocked forward slightly as I heard the footsteps coming closer. I was at the back, so I always heard people coming. I was getting used to the schedule too, so I could sort of give myself some sense of time. This was off of the schedule though, so that meant it was someone outside of the regular guards. All my other senses failed in here, so I wasn't prepared to see Ukitake and Kyoraku as they stepped up to the bars._

 _I gritted my teeth slightly and took a small step back so that I could plant my strength into the wall. This grimy, putrifying wall would carry me through this. I should have been more prepared to see them, but I had never really expected to what the agony on their faces grow. It was one thing to think and the other to experience._

 _I watched them suffer in silence. I would forever be able to invision that look, though I would never come up with a name for it. It was dangerous look that had me wanting to plead with them. Just the sight and I was nearly in tears, yearning that they wouldn't look at me like that because I was actually innocent. It was the man on the other side that wasn't._

 _Somehow I kept in my desperate panicked cries and waited as they took in the scene. They could probably barely see me, though I could see them in the full light. It was better this way. All they needed was answers. Maybe then they could remember me before they thought that I was corrupted._

 _"_ _Ayake." I swallowed down the knob that jerked up. Ukitake never called me that. What a stone wall that I had already run into. "Your zanpakuto is missing."_

 _"_ _Ukitake-taicho. It is not."_

 _His hand slowly came up to the bars and I saw the flicker there. He was in a trance of anger and sadness. Of course, no one could understand what had happened. I had 'gone insane' according to some. The truth was living in the eleven that had vanished and the three that were still holding an invisible sword to the Gotei 13's throats._

 _"_ _Have you done something to your zanpakuto, Ayake?"_

 _"_ _It was destroyed." I shifted slightly and their heads moved at the tinkling of chains. "I destroyed him."_

 _I knew that they wouldn't believe me, because if there was anything they believed in it was that Kumo was the one I would never betray. However, if I handed him over they would destroy him as well, and he was my only link to sanity in the darkness. As spider that was able to function better, to have been born in the darkness I was placed in, he knew better than what I was going through. Although I had already lost his voice in my head, he beat with every pump of my heart. I had gotten Tessai to seal him away in my very being to carry him with me. My last hold onto that former life that I would never see again._

 _"_ _Why?"_

 _"_ _Why what?" There was the crack that I was waiting to show._

 _"_ _Why did you betray us? – Your friends."_

 _"_ _No – You're wrong. I chose to show my loyalty to the true ones." Its just they thought that the true ones were the enemies in this circumstance yet it was the enemies that were in their circle of trust. They couldn't hear that though; their ears long turned deaf to words._

 _Kyoraku had stayed silent for all this time, and I couldn't bring up any courage to look over at him. I saw his hand come down onto Ukitake's shoulder and they shifted positions slightly. His eyes were gleamed over in a small shean of hatred. That much I could recognize. For once, I was the enemy against his duty to the Gotei 13._

 _I shifted until I was sliding down against the wall, the jingle from my chains the only sound. I slowly curled to my side and took in the man before more. My bottom lip quivered, and I was thankful. Thankful for the darkness that couldn't show him my visage and could hide my tears. Thankful for the driness of my throat that couldn't rasp out any sobs. Thankful for the small whisper I felt at his reiatu. Thankful for him turning away and getting Ukitake to walk with him, and thankful that it was his face and pink kimono that were the last I would ever recognize._

 _I cried like I had that day in the fourth squad after I faced the adjuchas. Except this time, I was the girl in the hollows mouth, and it was my blood that was staining its teeth._

"Hey—"

I put my hand in front of his face and paid him little mind after that. I watched as Soi-fon made her kill. It was the first time I had ever seen it done so very well. She had definitely grown in the time away, although her adoration had turned to anger. She had horrible expression now for all the power that she had obtained. Whatever lessons Yoruichi and I had taught her only served to twist slightly in her brain with how our ends came about.

I sighed again, seeing the way that the Sou-taicho was tapping his cane. I ducked my head and rubbed at my shoulders, before turning back to the bald man that had only smacked my hand, though I felt little pain from it.

"What's your name?"

"Madarame Ikkaku."

"Well, then, Madarame, I'm being summoned. Get yourself out of here… Don't want to find a useless fight idiot dead because you have no zanpakuto."

I didn't hear his answer as I shunpoed away from the more-than-liking shouting man. He looked like the type that was quick to anger. When I came out of my shunpo I got brief acknowledgement from the fox-like captain and lieutenant Iba, before I came and took a squat right behind the Sou-taicho.

Off to my left there was great explosion of kido, the aftereffects of which brushed up against our clothing. I turned slightly to see that it was the two female lieutenants that were taking on the faccion from the female espada. An all out girls' fight.

 _Seems the women aren't as incompetent as they used to be_. It was nice to seem more female faces in the higher positions. Even my eyes flickered over to the play bantering that Ukitake had taken on, having to deal with a child. It was his absolute worst nightmare.

Kyoraku was also taking it pretty easy, with only one sword drawn. Though from the way his reiatsu was starting to pick up, I doubt he would be playing the pacifist card any longer. I sighed and placed my chin onto my knees. Kyoraku's sense of duty was still much larger than mine ever was. I smiled slightly at seeing him finally start to attack his opponent with new strength, if it was anything to tell from the small stumble the arrancar had taken. I nibbled slightly on my lip and saw that his two swords had finally come to a light.

"Hm~"


	43. Chapter 42

**A/N: Diamonddragon613 I totally understand where you're coming from the first person perspective. I tend to flip flop between writing in first and then writing in third (he or she pronouns) between different stories. It was a conscious decision to write Yuko in the first as I thought that there was a mental fragility to her that I couldn't convey in any other way. I'm glad that it's paying off and that you've stuck with it. As for Kyoraku...**

 **Also shout outs to HimeGee17, AKAkris10, TwinDrake, and FanFictionAnimeLover. Thanks for the favorites and follows.**

 **Please continue to post comments and and questions!**

Three arrancar releases occurred and my attention was turned back to the girls that were probably going to have some trouble. I vaguely could see something coming from their bodies, and I belatedly realized that they had torn their arms offs. From the small pieces and giant was formed. It was some sort of hollow, with a tail that had a snake head's at the end of it. It had long hair that was bushy and down to the tail bone. I could see faintly that something was sticking from his head, and that his legs looked to be covered in fur.

 _Animalistic._

 _It looks tough, Ayake-sama._

 _Yeah… Something's off about its reiatsu force._

My eyes widened slightly at the speed that it had moved for its size. I had seen more impressive moves but it was still off putting. It looked as if the Shinigami had taken a massive blow, too. Her body had frozen from shock and then began to plummet down to the ground. There was a shout from the other girl too. I watched as the other had forgotten about her opponent and had made to catch her friend with a good use of kido.

 _Bakudou 37: tsuriboshi, no?_

 _It would seem so, Ayake-sama. – Will you really not do anything?_

I gritted my teeth and saw that the Sou-taicho had also turned his attention slightly to see the fight. He had given no orders so I couldn't get involved yet. My fists slowly came to a close, and I rooted down a bit deeper into my squat, holding the tension in my thighs. My eyes flickered back just in time to see the girl get a back knock to her chest. From the looks of it, the monster had some sort of strength enhancement.

 _I think the Sou-taicho is doing some sort of evaluation on them._

 _It's a dangerous time for him to be doing so._

 _I'd agree with you Kumo… But look at the backup that just came._

 _Surely that won't make a difference_

 _…_ _. Oh, there's a 69 tattoo._

 _Ayake-sama - Would you pay attention to the fight?_

I snickered and eyed the fuku-taicho that had easily slung the creature. Nice to know that Kensei had a little fan boy, though I wondered briefly how that could possibly be. The other one present looked like he be attempting a triage of the injuried, what with the way he released a high level kido shield like that. I raised my eyes and nodded my head in surprise.

 _Some really effective Shinigami still._

I turned back to the 69 fuku-taicho. His zanpakuto looked like to double-sided sythes with a chain in between. He wasn't a bad fighter either, but he was obviously overpowered. The monster was a complete physical barrier, since it seemed that he could outdue anything that way. Additionally, he was probably already a bit tired from the previous fight at the pillar that he had.

As the 69 fuku-taicho got himself captured, I saw that Iba had jumped into the thrust. My eyes narrowed. I could feel the build up from here. My body reacted instinctually as I saw the reiatsu that the fuku-taicho had gotten hit with. Then the other fuku-taicho was pounded into the wall, and squeezed, and I had to stop my feet from getting over there.

"You can go and solve that for me if you are so eager child." I turned my head over to the Sou-taicho who had paid attention with years of collected patience and control. "Don't make me come and save you as well."

I smirked and unsealed Kumo for the second time. As the black came around my fingers, I nodded. Then with a shunpo I was off and coming to a standstill in front of the blonde fuku-taicho and his wards. I clanked the tips of the nails together to help narrow the shot I was going to send off.

"Hadou 73: Soren Sokatsui."

I heard a sigh of thank you, but I brushed him away and looked at the suddenly screeching monster. It was patting furiously at its chest in some sort of disbelief. It reminded me of a child that had not been given candy, and was stomping its feet in protest. Although, this was a far more serious crime that I had committed. My eyes narrowed, though, since it hadn't immediately died. Its durability was something to marvel at.

"Keep healing, boyo." I had felt the flare in his reiatsu, as the monster slowly came to shift shape. "Do the thing you are most capable of doing right now."

I rolled out my neck and slithere down into my typical wall; my two knees bent with my legs widened out, and my arms parallel to my thighs. My hand twitched slightly at the blaze of reiatsu that the hollow was exuding. Two giant eyes came through the hair that was on his head; what had appeared to be his face taking a back seat and become his nose. His form seemed to pulse in a new sort of strength.

Its jaw opened wide and I could see the sharp teeth that were there, and then his whole body seemed to change. It expanded to a new size, letting the muscles of his body make him wider and more taunt. His head looked like a small sized peanut next to the thick muscles of his arms. I vaguely noted that his legs were also bulking up, and that he had hooves for feet.

His eyes snapped to attention and he came jumped for me. I flipped before his hand could come swiping down and then sent my nails crashing into his head. I was attempting to get through his skull, but his body had hardened so much that it was near impossible, though I did see some blood squirt out.

 _Tsk._

I narrowly missed the hand that he had come at me again. A hit from that would have at least shattered my complete side. There was also no way for me to stop something like that head on. The momentum alone would have me flying back several feet.

 _And the Sou-taicho has to be watching._

 _Do you think it is time?_

 _No._

A grunt escaped my lips and a ducked underneath another swing. I twirled around on my heel and used that to send my nails through the armor of his skin. I ejected from the situation quickly, with his arm coming down onto my nails just as I was able to pull out. I came back into a pant, and the monster raged again at the new injury.

 _Much tougher than I anticipated._

 _Ayake-sama…._

 _Yeah. - I guess that I should._

 _The sleepless nights that I used to have faded for a time. Then they came back with a vengeance, and little whispers going through my head. Kumo would sometimes be heard shouting into my ears, so much that it caused physical pain. My head groaned at odd hours, and the there would be flashes were I wouldn't even feel like myself._

 _Rage would fly through me, jumbling up the other thoughts in my head. Then fear and loneliness. It would beat me over and over again, until my brain felt like mush in my head and I couldn't distinguish up from down. Isshin, who had become my fourth seat in time, sometimes would find me staring at my desk blankly, little words leaving my mouth that I hadn't even known I was saying. He worried, but I got him thinking that it was migrains after some pushing._

 _That thrumming was always in the back of my head. I knew it had nothing to do with stress, especially when it would happen when nothing was going on in my life. It suddenly came back and never left. All of the links that I had started to put together were making more and more sense. Kumo hadn't stopped me from coming to my own conclusions, but had given me no clues and no affirmations. But it was making sense, slowly like those hands that were creeping through the shadows to show me the whole image._

 _Then the chains snapped one day whilst in the office. I felt an unbridled substance flying through me. I had no clue what it was, but I left my desk overturned in my haste to get out of the division. I could hear no words, though I knew they were being shouted after me. It was just me and my raging heart that was threatening to consume me._

 _"_ _Kisuke!"_

 _I found the blonde man and tore into the forest with him on my back. I couldn't stop moving the panic running threw everything that I had held dear. I got us down to the training pit before I was able to grasp what I had done._

 _His bewildered stare took all of two seconds to wash away. He was on his feet in an instant and was walking forwards. I stumbled my way back and placed my hands up to prevent him from coming closer. He paused in his tracks with his hands open, and the words coming on his lips though I heard nothing. Just the screech that was ripping through my brain._

 _"_ _I didn't tell you something." I rasped out. Kumo was in my head blazing away at this point, and I knocked down onto my knees. "I didn't tell you."_

 _"_ _What?" I could read, and then I fell forward onto my chest. I could make out his feet and then his face as he turned me over. Yoruichi came into view to and I saw their lips moving._

 _Slowly, I grabbed onto the shihakusho closest and dragged the person's ear down. "Kill me."_

 _I fell into my inner world where I saw that the fight had stopped. I wanted to scramble back up and explain, but I was falling like lead in water. There was no way up, except through, I supposed. I touched down on the strings, and they pulsed at my entrance. I kept my gaze there, taking in the sight of the strings that I hadn't been able to see in a few years. Every time I had tried, Kumo had swept me out. They hadn't frayed, still clinging together with my reiatsu, but the white had turned gray in my absence._

 _Ever so slowly I turned my head over towards the new figure in the world. In our world of two, there was now three. The coldness, the snickers, the screeches, they all fell to this one woman that was staring back at me. A reflection of the self that could have been had I turned into an evolved hollow. She was flour white, and though her hair dark as mine own, her eyes differentiated. They were a slitted red in color, most likely from her devolved form. She carried a pair of wolf ears on her head made from a hollow's mask, and her feet, like wolf's paws, were made from the same material._

 _"_ _Che – So you're the girl."_

 _"_ _Yes." I took a few steps forward, slipping my hand onto my hilt. "And you are?"_

 _The hollow started laughing, holding onto her ribs, and then left her face contorted into something that I couldn't even recognize in the mirror. "I'm you, I guess."_

 _Kisuke was right about one thing. Hollows and Shinigami are made of brother and sister reiryoku. I flickered my eyes over the strings of it that were coming off of her. It was mine and yet it wasn't. I had never hated hollows. I had never grown indifferent to them, either. They terrorized and killed what I called "innocent" people because they were hungry. I took no pleasure in killing them, but I took pleasure in saving someone. It was a messed up dichotomy that all warriors faced: to enjoy something in the wake of death was not an easy toil on the mind._

 _"_ _Did you come from me?"_

 _She could be the representation of an inner self that no one dared to lay claim to. Shinigami considered it devolved to fess up to unrational beings. Yet we both start off the same way, and split into two different beings; one led by unconsciousness and the other by rationality. There must be some parts of me that were instinctual, and other parts of her that were rational. Like a yin and yang symbol, we probably completed each other yet wanted nothing to do with one another._

 _"_ _Does it matter?" She shrugged and drew out her sword. "I win I get your body."_

 _"_ _And if I win?"_

 _"_ _Don't even think that's a possibility."_

 _Kumo had stayed far away, knowing that this was not a fight for his part of the soul. It was a fight for my part. I think in the instance that we had both stabbed each other, we came to know each other intimately. She handed over everything to my leadership, never once choosing to taunt at it or to go haywire. In a way, she had chosen to take on her more rational being, I presumed._

 _Our fight lasted a very long time in my inner world, but on the real surface where Kisuke and Yoruichi were, it lasted just under an hour. They vaguely gave me the details of what they had done to cover up my absence, and it gave me another four days to try and stabilize the new reiatsu that I had claimed._

 _Kisuke got to work explaining everything that he could make out to me. His theory was that somehow the wolf adjuchas that I had faced had impregnated a small piece of its reiryoku into me a long time ago. It had festered in my system causing all of the problems that I had noted and called off due to stress, and grew stronger as my own reiryoku grew. Kisuke had gotten to use his Hogyoku as a last resort, unable to figure out what to do in such limited time. He theorized that it being around me so often had probably exacerbated the change, and whatever Kumo had been able to fight of initially became the process of hollowfication._

 _I knew though, that it was not Kisuke's Hogyoku that had changed me. I wasn't around it nearly enough for it to have an effect. It came from Aizen's. I had spent so much time around him as a lieutenant, and then whenever Shinji wasn't able to dump him. Whatever residuals were on him must have been transferred onto me and reacted because somewhere in me there had been dorment hollow reiryoku that had been left uncaught._

 _When the four days were up, and I had come to some strong accord with my hollow self, I returned back to the surface. I took on the punishments for my undocumented absence and did my best to create a very plausible excuse for it all. I trained vigoriously from then on, and built up to holding my mask for as long as possible, and to hide away all existence of it._

 _Yoruichi and Kisuke both helped me out, but there were some things that were just not possible for them to do. We carried the secret together, but I carried all of the burden. I sunk down slightly, hoping only to flutter into every one's notice but it just wasn't part of my nature. But I stayed far away from Kyoraku's outstretched hands with my own blackened ones._

Slowly, I brought my hand up to my head and formed my mask. I ignored what I knew to be curious and frightened looks from the onlookers. They could tell from the way that the pressure changed, and my reiatsu slide from something recognizeable to something unknown. I think only a few had gotten some sort of information about the hollowfication process, baring the ones that suffered from it.

The monster in front of me jolted, but it was too late for him to run in fear, and I cut through the skull easily. Hollow powers were a great tool to have when used correctly. From the cero blast to the increase in strength, it was something that could potentially reach beyond captain level. There was nothing left before me, and so I retracted my nails and waited patiently for the three above to make a move.

"W—What are you?"

I slowly turned my head towards them, eyeing their wide eyes and the drops in their jaw. Sheens of sweat were dripping off of them, and I could only assume that there hearts were quavering in their chests. I ran my hand up to my mask and took it from my face. Influenced from the first hollow that had given me into essence, it was shaped a bit like a wolf with a snout coming from it and pricked triangular ears. Kisuke had also told me that my eyes changed to red and the pupils dilated a bit from the influence, but I had never bothered to look.

 _It must be very disconcerting._

 _It very much is, Ayake-sama._

"I am like you, am I not?" I wagged the mask at them. I saw their glances at one another as they tried to proceed with what next to do. I looked at the mask to give them their time. "Didn't think I'd have to use this so early, but then again... My powers have been locked up for about a hundred years. - Although, you should be more scared. I haven't be able to practice in quite a while."

"Is that some sort of joke?"

I slipped the mask back onto my face and got ready for their attack. It wasn't a joke, though, of course, they would never find that out. I had reached through with my hollow only moments before Aizen had come stampeding into the picture. I had lost her in the rejected cell as well, though it was probably a good thing. I didn't need the hollow powers acting up when they could kill me so easily.

 ** _If you let me at them the first time, that never would have happened._**

 _I have not missed your voice at all._

 _ **Shut it you damn spider. You've been hearing my voice for the past hundred years – Get used to it.**_

 _If you two would settle down, Kumo, Ichi._

 _ **Stop calling me that!**_

 _What would you like to be called then?_

 _ **…**_ _ **Never mind, let's just get back to killing**_ _._

I sighed and turned my focus back to the still standing girls. They seemed to still be in some sort of shock from their pets' death. I had named the hollow Ichi, since she was part of me. She hadn't taken to it too kindly, but she swallowed it like medicine. I hadn't missed her voice either, but I'd rather endure her for the rest of my life than be in the silence and without my powers.

 ** _Thanks_** _,_ _ **I guess.**_

I released a breath and then thrust a finger out towards one of the girls. She dragged her sword out and attempted to cut it, but the black ribbon had stayed in its place. "It is not hierro, as you call it. - Kumo doesn't work like that. He's simply just inpenetrable."

My voice launched them into their attacks and they came swinging right and left. Compared to their pet, they were actually much weaker which probably had to do with the loss of reiatsu and the loss of movability. My mask disappated as I realized that I wouldn't need it to finish the girls off.

The stood in a semi-circle up towards the back already panting. Slowly the hand that they had been ignoring crept behind them and the looped around. Two came around the long side, and two split through the windows of their group. I pushed them all closer, and then let my thumb slowly maneuver around.

"How?"

"Let me explain something. – I thought like you once. Kumo is just long black sticks that can come out from my fingers and go at different distances…. That would be incorrect. Let me show you Kumo's real shikai form."

The ribbons had squeezed them just a bit tighter, as I used my other hand to demonstrate what Kumo was actually like. All the fingers retracted back and left a simple black glove in its wake. Their faces warped into a pained confusion as they just kept staring at it. Before one could come close to choking out a question, I gifted it to them.

"You see the hand is an interesting place of the body. Its fingers are the most remoted controlled part of the body… Being that all the joints and muscles are controlled by the other muscles and tendons in your arm and the palm. That's why the glove extends further up the arm and wraps around my entire hand, to act as a shield."

"But it curves…." Her voice came out as a slight squeak as I fastened a little tighter onto her. She had been attempting to move.

"Don't your fingers curve when you direct them to? - When I was first learning to use Kumo, the gloves naturally extended to those nails that you saw because of my reiryoku… I too believed that his only ability was to extend and contract. Simply put it wasn't. - Kumo's true ability in shikai form is that like fingers it is controlled remotely by my brain."

I flatted my hand and looked at it, before growing the nails out to where it had been previously. I sighed sadly at them when they asked me to wait. I could only hold my own against such pitiful pleas for so long. "What?"

"P-please."

"Don't kill you? Unfortunately that's not possible for me not to do… Strick orders, you understand right?" I started shifted the nails over towards their foreheads. They all looked up at them in panic, and their eyes clenched closed moments later. They wouldn't hear my last words, but I was feeling rather talkative.

Perhaps, because I wanted them to at least hear something while they died. Dying in silence just seemed the worse way to go, because it meant that you were truly alone. In the moment that death reaches us all we are alone, but it's a consolation to know that just moments before at least someone was with you. It reminded me briefly of those seconds before unconsciousness when the cell door would lock, and I would think it was the last time they would open. The sound of the lock snapping would be the last thing I ever heard, and just before my eyes shut my heart would pang with a sadness and being left alone in the darkness.

"There's another reason of course…. There's so much fear now in the younger generation. I don't understand it... Why should someone fear the capabitlity to protect themselves and to protect others? ... It is instinct no? To want to protect all of that. - There is nothing to fear in combat... Either you are good enough to protect, or you die trying…."

I shot the needles forward, and then retracted them, slowly letting their bodies flump all the way down to the ground below. There were a few crashes as they each landed in their coffin. My mouth puckered up and I stared down at the bodies that I had just killed.

 _It's never easy._

 _No, Ayake-sama. It's not._

"None of you are enough of a threat for me to die…. You picked the wrong person to go up against. - Sorry."


	44. Chapter 43

I was going to flash over to the plummeting captain of my former position, but I saw him righting himself and go flying back up. For his looks and his age, he was a decent enough captain, if not a little on the weaker side. It was his potential that outweighed everything though. I had heard a bit about how he was a child prodigy. I could so that clearly when I saw him fighting. He would just be getting stronger.

I turned back to see that the fox captain had taken up a guard to the fuku-taicho that was healing all of the injuries. I wouldn't be much help there, and he looked like he had some experience with the situation. Besides, Iba and the 69 fuku-taicho were minimally injured compared to the others, and they were more passed out at this point.

I jerked back at the crash into buildings, and stared at the ice crystals that were swinging around. I hadn't known that he had an ice zanpakuto. Behind me I could make out Soi-fon's reiatsu, and the trouble that she was also having. I was half tempted to head over since it appeared she was doing worse, but her pride was even too much for me to handle now. She'll die before ever admitting to help.

Suddenly I found myself being wrapped in the first espada release of the war. I turned back over. Between the two fight I was going to get more than enough whiplash. She was tall woman with a darker skin tone and short blonde hair, minus for a few long strips that she kept clamped up. The hole in her body was by her womb, just underneath the curve of her waist. The mask had climbed down from her face but extended down to barely cover over her neck and parts of her breasts. She also had on a small skirt, although her boots made up for some of the lost fabric.

"I'll be avenging their deaths next."

I sighed and eyed the woman. Number 3 espada was a going to be a pain, if I actually had to fight her. The rest of her release was in the giant swinging on her right arm. She seemed to be using so sort of water-type release. That should be easy enough for the tiny captain to get a handle on, since all water can become ice.

On the other hand, the espada fighting Soi-fon was an aggressive type that seemed to have no other powers other than knocking stuff around. He was doning a gigantic axe that I could easily make out from this distance, and he swung it around like it weighed nothing but a feather.

 _And I really just wanted to watch the fights._

 _Stop lying to yourself, Ayake-sama._

 ** _For once I agree with the damn spider, just jump in._**

 _Thanks Ichi but that's not happening with the Sou-taicho… And, Kumo, I really did want to watch Kyoraku fight. It's a one in a life time opportunity._

 ** _I don't understand how you like a weakling like him._**

My eyes grew large as I turned over towards Soi-fon. That reiatsu was suffocating at the minimum. The second espada release, and it was already when Soi-fon was getting beaten. I gritted my teeth, and saw that he had become nothing more than a floating skeleton in a black cape. The crown on his head glittered under the sun, and there were a few chains that were coming from the sleeves of his cape. Soi-fon and her lieutent looked to be planted where they were.

I drew a bit closer, seeing as it looked like she needed the most help, and watched as the roof that he walked upon crumbled into the matter that it had been made off. Every step he took had them disintegrating. There was no way that even I could do something against whatever his actual power was. Being a physical type as well, ruled me out, if he could get any part of my body to disappear with a matter of touch.

 _Fear of death…_

I watched the movement as Soi-fon got her lieutenant to cut at the arm that had been exposed to the espada's abilities. My shoulders hunched down and I came into a squat, holding my tucked knees close to my chest. I breathed, and let the tension radiate. There was really nothing I could do against that at all. Even though I wanted to risk facing Soi-fon's pride, there was nothing that I could do.

"Ayake." I turned my head over towards the Sou-taicho. "Go."

My eyes faltered over to the growing storm clouds that were combining overhead. I gritted my teeth as I jumped around towards Soi-fon, but that wasn't what he meant either. All the reiatsus were climbingin this place and I couldn't get a read on any of them. Even Kyoraku's was starting to build; coming to the point just before it would tip over.

 _What is he talking about?_

My thoughts broke off as I felt Kyoraku's shikai burst forward, and the third espada release. A small chant fell over me. I swallowed down the deep pit that had risen and sucked in the strength around me. It seemed that even to this day, the feeling of his reiatsu could still get to me. It could still bring me out of the deepest of panics.

 _Right_. My eyes narrowed down and I attempted to focus on what the Sou-taicho actually wanted me to do. I stretched out my senses as far as I could take them, registering that Ukitake had released and the Soi-fon's opponent was still left. That there was another gate opening up towards my back and that there a new energy there that really needed to be taken care of. My orders did not exist here.

 _Kumo._

 _Yes, Ayake-sama…. I'll direct you._

I zoomed away, even as everything bad was coming towards them. My heart clenched and I picked up speed. It seemed that even though the Sou-taicho hadn't known this was coming, he was more than ready for the ones that were knocking on the gates. I kept zooming, past everything that I was holding dear.

"Chojiro."

His head barely turned towards me before I picked him up on the way here, and hoisted him to my back. He fell into my slightly, letting me take him with me as I continued moving. He had stayed hidden away, taking care of things on the outskirts, a final act of care from the Sou-taicho's hardened heart. Now I'd be using him.

 _Towards the left…. Stop._

I put him down and he twittered slightly. "Open it. Orders from the top."

Between the two sides working on the gates, the barrier unlocked. I couldn't believe that I had forgotten that they would be showing up at some point. The hole was created and there stood the vizards in there glory. I pulled Chojiro up and behind me as they began to slowly trickle in one step at a time. Instantaneously, their eyes were fixed to the building mass of hollows that were making a move.

"Glad to see ya, Yuko." I turned over towards Shinji's smirking face. Even after all these years he either faced a battle with that damn smirk or his solemn deadpan. "Shall we?"

"Yuko-chan!" Mashiro jumped straight onto me and I got a grunt from Kensei. Hiyori gave her typical upturn of her face, although her frown wasn't there. Hachigen bowed his head, whilst Love and Rose were smiling. Lisa gave me a nod and I flashed her an important look. She'd have to get her captain into gear. She only rolled her eyes at that.

I sent Chojiro off, now that the orders were complete, and remarked that I'd let the Sou-taicho know of his support. Then the nine of us were flash stepping over to the scene of the war. If it had been how Kisuke had wanted, I would have been entering with them. Though, I could never imagine spending one hundred years with only eight people.

 _Yoruichi had woken me from my paperwork and we had stolen the two convicts from the courts. The two of us had stepped through in time to hear the verdicts that were going to happen. Then we made quick work of the guards, broke through their restraints, and lugged them towards the training pit that we had always used. It had become an escape for times when we didn't want to be around other people, and now it was a time we were using to escape from Seireitei._

 _My teeth gritted and the pain that the man was going through to get the gigai ready. He had already been spending years on trying to reverse the hollowfication for me, and now he had to face the task in a completely new environment._

 _I slowly lowered my head down to the knees, and I pulled them close. I sucked in as much breath as I could but I couldn't release it. My lip quivered as I attempted to keep in my cries. This was the last thing that I wanted, and my nightmares were becoming true before my eyes. I slammed my eyes shut to try and keep such believes from spreading in my head. But everything ran back to the words that I had heard ran truer in my ears._

 _Aizen had won whatever game that he was playing. I had known for however long that he wasn't to be trusted and yet I had let him slip through. I could have told Kisuke; told Shinji. My fists clenched up around my legs. Self inflicted pain felt like the only good solution to this whole thing._

 _"_ _Yuko."_

 _"_ _I still feel like such a child, Yoruichi." I felt her arms coming to wrap around me in one of the few tender moments that she could give me. She had always been caring in her own teasing way, but very rarely could I get a decent hug, and it was at the end. "Why is this happening?"_

 _"_ _We got on the bad side of lady luck, I guess."_

 _"_ _Stop fucking around—"_

 _"_ _I'm not." Her hands tightened on my bicep and she cuddled me into her chest. I curved in tighter to the ball that I always used for my hugs, and let her take me in. Her head came to rest ontop of mine own, and the tears nearly started afresh. "We'll get through this."_

 _I bite into my lip, and felt my quivers coming back. I chanted and chanted in my head not to cry, and for once the rivers seemed to run dry. I could push back the tears, and focus on the breathing instead. This was technically still war time, and therefore emotions weren't needed yet. I'll let my heart start breaking now, gather it all up, and then pour it all out later. When everything was finally broken._

 _"_ _I'm not going to the human world with you."_

 _Her arms abruptly retracted and then I felt her pushing me into the floor. We toppled slightly, and she pulled me up by my top. "You stop fucking around Yuko."_

 _"_ _Yoruichi I can't go with you."_

 _"_ _This is not a joke." She jammed my head down into the ground. It hadn't been in that position in a while. Not since she had taught me to defend myself. Her eyes were already covering up the tears that I knew her heart was drawing. "You're-"_

 _"_ _I can't." I grasped onto her wrists and titled us so that we were both sitting. I caught the waver in Kisuke's hands but he continued to go on working. Time was running by faster and faster for the first time in years, and it felt like we almost had none left. For timeless souls, the feeling of death, of the end, was upon us._

 _"_ _Yes… Yes you can."_

 _I closed my eyes and then opened them back up, pulling Yoruichi in now for her comfort. She snuggled into my bossom and I raked my hands through her hair as I had always done before. "Someone needs to act as decoy."_

 _"_ _Then just b—"_

 _"_ _If they catch one then you know the manhunt will settle down. They won't be as determined to go looking for you guys."_

 _"_ _We can—"_

 _"_ _Listen." Her panting quieted and I felt that steady hum final silence. "I was brought up in the hearing… That means that Aizen's planning to take me down anyway. – I'm not going to live here where you aren't. You are my family. Without you there's no point. I have nothing to protect... But, I also can't live with you running around all the time."_

 _Aizen was after me most likely because he knew what I knew. I had set up the tenth division to work strictly in the districts, and attempt to converse with them; set up reconciliation talks to get the trust building. Patrols units ordered under me were always out there. They were the first to start noticing all the bodies that were going missing._

 _On top of that, if it was anything to tell by the courts, Aizen knew that I was hollowfied at some point. That meant that he understood that I knew everything that was about his plan, and the extreme details that I had been able to put together to make an excellent case against him. I was really, his number one enemy._

 _"_ _Yu—"_

 _"_ _There's a burden I'll carry. I had some evidence against Aizen and I didn't use it for all this time, so… Let me go in peace knowing I did something for you guys at the end."_

 _"_ _And our peace?" Tessai butt in._

 _I had found out very abruptly that he too had been a friend from the neighborhood. It was only because the Kido corps and the Gotei 13 are very rarely interlinked, if at all, that I had never met him. Though to have never been made aware of him created a weird itch at my neck, there was just no time to dwell over those facts or to get upset about it._

 _He had picked up quickly on the situation, and we had hid no information from him given that he had been taken from his home as well. He seemed to have come to a resolve quickly about the topic, and his acceptance rate was extraordinary._

 _"_ _What of our peace? How do you think we'll feel if you give yourself as a decoy?"_

 _"_ _Horrible." I snuffed a small laugh and smiled at the large man from over the top of Yoruichi's head. "But someone has to do be the decoy…. This is the only solution we have, to let the others slip out without any incident."_

 _Yoruichi pulled up and out of my arms completely, taking my face into her hands. "Do you have any idea of what they'll do to you?"_

 _"_ _You know I know better than most."_

 _The silence rang the truth better than I could have ever argued it. There was nothing else to be done about it. The truth of the night would be hidden in the twelve of us until Aizen made his next move. The hope in my chest beat, knowing that one day I'd be rescued by them again. They'd come for me as they always had, because that's the type of vindictive that Yoruichi and Kisuke were._

 _I placed my hand on top of Kisuke's shoulder as he continued working, and told him that I would be back in a few minutes. I gathered Tessai to me and we both clambored over to the other side of the rocks._

 _"_ _I'll need you to seal Kumo away for me."_

 _"_ _Ayak—"_

 _"_ _Do it straight over my heart?" Tessai's eyes widened, I knew. I shuffled the sealed sword out in front of us and gently caressed it before turning to look up at the man. "If they kill me they'll get him that way. I won't have it the opposite way around… Nor will I have him live in agony with my death. We've reached that decision."_

 ** _Exactly, Ayake-sama._**

 _I laid down and then five minutes later was waking up from my sleep. My eyes had fluttered open and for a moment I had briefly thought that I had, actually fallen asleep in a clearing. My hand wandered over to the side where I would have been feeling Kyoraku's warmth. The air would wash a small puff of his grass and sake scent, so I breathed in deeply when it came._

 _Ever so slowly my hand grabbed around to nothing but dirt. There was no hand to cling to and no breathes to watch rise and fall. 'Stow it', I chanted. I filtered all of my memories of all the times that I could remember. So, maybe one day, I'd be able to recall them and live through my own insanity of my cradle in the Maggot's Nest._

 ** _It's a good thing that Isshin will be alright, huh?_**

 ** _Yes, I presume so Ayake-sama._**

 _I slowly crawled up and then made my way back towards the group. The newly hollowfied had stayed sleeping and Tessai was keeping watch over them. I stayed next to him, making small conversation, until Yoruichi slunk out in the stealth of the night. She'd return shortly, but I took it as my cue to go over to the tinkering frame of my other friend._

 _I sat as close to him as possible as he was still constructing one of the last gigai. He probably wouldn't have even be able to get to eleven at the rate that he was slowing down. Kisuke was always very good at pushing himself though. If I had needed it, he would have made it somehow._

 _"_ _Kumo's sealed in me, with only me being able to release it… I have a few of your trinkets hidden in those safe spaces I created a while back."_

 _The man only nodded but I wasn't sure if it was towards his invention or towards my words, until he spoke. "You really should come with us."_

 _"_ _A fool is just something you aren't, Kisuke." The man only sighed and I saw his hands tighten on the tools that he was using; his knuckles turning hollow white. "Besides, you'll come back for me."_

 _His arm swiped out and I came into his chest. He wrapped me tightly up into his brotherly embrace, and whispered down things into my ears that I would never come to know. I'm sure that they were reassurances though, for that was the feeling that they gave me. I pressed into his chest just a touch more, and heard the vibrations of his heart._

 _"_ _Kisuke," I whispered out, "when I said you were frustrating… I meant only that for someone so smart, you were so set in preventing your own growth."_

 _"_ _I don't see it that way."_

 _"_ _I know you don't, but as someone who's come to actually understand you, I can tell you that there's no one else I would have rather met in my entire existence."_

 _"_ _Not even Kyoraku-taicho?"_

 _"_ _Hush, boyo." His arms tightened up around me, and I clutched equally as hard onto him. My last embrace, the last time that name would be uttered in my presence most likely, and the last time I could feel that warmth. I shuddered out a breath._

 _Moments later I was dragging myself away and I looked into his eyes. "I have to get going soon, to get everything set up. - Tell Shinji one thing for me," I kept my forefinger in front of my face and Kisuke nodded with a firm set in his mouth, "Tell him I'm sorry. I had information that he probably could have used and I didn't tell him…. But also tell him I'm sorry that I can't help him out anymore. That I've taken everything into account, and although I would like to be with him and the others through the hollowfication, it's just not possible."_

 _"_ _He'll understand."_

 _"_ _I know he will, that boyo… But I'm still sorry." I leaned in again and hugged Kisuke around the shoulders. His arms came immediately around me, and I fiddled with his hair for a moment. "Let's go do better, Kisuke."_

 _"_ _Of course, Yuko-chan."_

 _"_ _And keep that stupid smile on your face."_

 _"_ _Yes, ma'am."His smirk came back onto his face, but it was watered down by his eyes._

 _I pulled away and wrapped into Yoruichi for a moment, before tapping one more farewell to Tessai. I rushed from the room and just before the barriers broke, I took a deep breath. My time had just about run out, and it would soon start leaking into loans. I brought my hands in front of my face, and begged the appendages that had always brought me strength to just put out a little bit more. When I clenched them, the chase had begun._

 ** _I'm sorry Ayake-sama._**

 ** _Kumo?_**

 ** _I'm just sorry._**


	45. Chapter 44

"Long time no see, Aizen." Shinji called out from beside me. He flipped his hat from his head and began twirling it around his finger, while resting on his zanpakuto like a cane.

My eyes slowly wormed over the entire scene. First there was mound of of a monster that had appeared and a new arrancar that looked absolutely bland. Soi-fon looked worse for wear and I could tell that she had her bankai released and used up almost to limit. The tenth squad captain was facing off with the espada that had broken free from his ice. Then in the far back, Kyoraku and Ukitake were both down for the count.

 _Tsk._

 **** ** _Told you he was weak._**

 _He's actually not…. That's just what he wants you to think._

 _ **Che - Whatever.**_

"Been ages since we've seen an'one. An'body got som'body they'd like ta say 'ello' ta in the squads?"

"Nope." Hiyori was already pulling the act out and crossing her fingers.

Shinji looped in on her calling out the indulgence, when he was the one that was already giving her the attention. A small smile came to my face at the odd show. When I had gone to visit, Hiyori was so focused on training Ichigo that I hadn't gotten to see them acting like this again.

As both Shinji and Lisa disappeared, I turned towards Kensei and began tapping on the side of my cheek. "You know… You left a legacy."

"A what?" The gray haired man turned in on me.

"A legacy - There's a fuku-taicho that's carrying your sign."

"Oh yeah?" He made a quick search around the area, and I didn't bother pointing out that it was someone that was currently resuscitating on the ground. When he gave up looking he turned back towards me. He didn't look upset at not finding his subject, at all. He had no emotions for people he didn't know. "Any good?"

I shrugged. "Not half bad, I guess."

I gave out a few excuses and began to walk back over towards the Sou-taicho. I trusted Lisa to give Kyoraku a good beating. That was her speciality, and I knew that they shared an interesting push-pull relationship. She'd get through to him better than I ever could. The man only liked to fool around with me around, any way.

 _Why'd it have to be someone like him? He's completely confusing about what he wants._

My eyes slated over towards the three ex-captains that were now standing without any of the fire. It was a pain that Aizen seemed to want to step up the war to his pace, but now that the actual back-up had arrived I was sure that the damage done by the sudden intrusion would be more than taken care of.

As my eyes came to rest on the Sou-taicho, his hand pulled in the air and told me to stop. I saw Shinji's quick glance at the movement, but they proceeded with the conversation. I stayed somewhere in the middle of the two groups, but even when Shinji made his way back, I was not called further. My eyes narrowed at the sudden cry from the new arrancar and then drifted over towards the Gillians that were in front of me.

 ** _How'd the geezer know?_**

 _I don't think he did… More like wanted to keep me from the conversation._

 ** _Lucky he did then. – More fun._**

I sighed and scratched my head. Knowing Kisuke he had probably already told the Vizards that I too was hollowified. It probably came up because of Shinji's incessant questioning, and the fact that out of all all four of us – Yoruichi, Tessai, Kisuke, and I – I was the only one that would have been able to survive in a place like the Maggot's Nest. Not just because of my experience, but because at the end of the day I was more powerful.

 _Not that it didn't hurt…_

 _You still had the higher probability of survival, Ayake-sama._

I breathed out and pulled down my mask. I felt the pressures build up from the group at my side, as they too went to hone in on their hollows. When a Shinigami and a Hollow meet, and because one it creates a friction in the reiatsu. It is not like nails on chalkboard, but more like two sheets of Styrofoam sliding together. It creates an unpleasant sound, the kind that travels through your body, but you can pass it off.

The reiatsus are made from similar things, coming out from the bits that were our Shinigami reiryoku and building up. That's why they can be stabilized, and that's why there the same material. However, it also depends on who your hollow is and the connection that you have with your soul. It was easier for me than I think it was easier for most of them. For all her hollow instincts, Ichi was pretty smart.

I slashed through another Gillian, and then another. Gillians were always the easiest to fight, because although they were big they lacked in both intelligence and in speed. I could pick my way through they like a foot crushes ants. A few useful flash steps here and there and a quick succession of flourishes of my sword and they were gone, bringing an end to several lives in under a minute. Having the hollow mask only made it easier for me, and I could probably have done without the sword and just ripped through the skulls like Love if I had really wanted.

I turned around to see that Shinji had narrowly dodged a swipe to his head from Tosen. I was half tempted to go over, but the fox captain was making his way towards the duo. I gathered that the fox captain and Tosen were friends, or ex-friends, from the way that they were talking to each other. It sent me into internal giggles that Shinji was also dealing with someone that was so formal. My old friend looked so off put with the formal addressing.

The vizards immediately dispersed and started towards the other enemies that were around. Lisa and Hiyori were taking on the female, and Hachi was going at the espada with Soi-fon and her lieutenant. Love and Rose were getting over towards where Kyoraku had been. I heard a major boom come from behind me, and smirked at the raucous behavior of the odd pair that was there. Kensei and Mashiro were taking on what was left of the Gillians and the other blimp of a monster.

 _I'll leave this to them, then._

I slowly made my way over the rumble and tumble of the area. Then suddenly, Gin's sword swept toward me. I bounced over it and disappeared with a flash step. Either it was just a way to get me to disappear more quickly, or it was a true attack I didn't care. With the new pace, I continued quickly over to where I could sense Ukitake's prone figure.

 _This is way out of my league._ My teeth broke into my lip as I suckled it a bit seeing the captain that I had grown up with.

There was a hole injected into his abdomen. It looked like someone had roughly thrust into the area, and then did nothing else. Ukitake had obviously fallen backwards from the sky, with the way his back pressed into the concrete. He never would have let a wound so close to his lungs either, so he must have been blindsided by the attack.

I dragged a hand over his chest and then began what I knew of reiatsu restoration. All major wounds had to begin at this stage, helping the wounded use their own body force to heal up the damage. Then when that was done, the healer could forcefully apply their own reiatsu, so it kind of worked like double sided healing. If it was minor, there was no need for the first part since it probably meant the injured soul had more than enough supply to start the second process.

His face was slowly coming down from the ashen white and his eyebrows were untangling from one another. I gave his face another quick flick before pressing down a bit more. The injury had probably offset some sort of problem with his tuberculosis as well, but there was nothing that I could do about that. The best I could do was get him to a relatively stable state, so that when division four finally swept in they could get him back to life.

I missed as his hand came and catching mine. Startled, the kaido slipped immediately and I turned over to face the half-lidded gaze of one snowy-haired captain. He twitched slightly, and I could see his chest heave, before he began to splutter out a cough. The hack brought some blood up to his lips, but there was no way that I could ease it.

As I was bringing my hand down to his forehead, he spoke up, "go Yuko."

"Go where Ukitake? We're in the clear for now."

"Don't waste your reiatsu on me like this. You've got a few battles yet to face."

I shook my head and pressed down onto his forehead. His eyes came to a close again and I waited until he fell into unconsciousness before I picked my hand up again. I brushed at his fringe, and then placed my hands onto his chest for a little bit more work. Until there was an absolute emergency there was no way that I was leaving him like this. Not even for a war.

My eyes fashioned onto the sky slightly to see the battles that were still raging. I could sense that Hachi's was slowly coming to a close. It was either that, or they were already almost at their limits. Then suddenly as if knowing that I was watching to see what would happen next, the espada crumbled away and the awkward three way team was successful.

 _I wonder how Hachi convinced her…_

 _…_ _A bribe, Ayake-sama?_

 _With her pride I could really see that happening._

There was a slight stutter in the fights from the sudden death but they continued on. My eyes zeroed into the enemy that Kyoraku had taken up. The espada had appeared the most nonchalant about the whole process but something must have triggered him. Now he was set about chasing the vizards around with wolves. They just never seemed to disappear no matter what Love or Rose did.

"Yuko-chan." I snapped my head around to see that Kyoraku had ambled his way up. Gone was his pink kimono top and the sun hat that he normally wore. My eyes brushed him down for wounds but there was nothing that was outright bleeding. "I'm fine."

"Don't just tell me that you pervert."

He sunk down by my side and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I leaned over slightly, and let him do whatever it was he had to do. His lips came to my hair, but with it being cut so short, I could feel them pressing onto my head. I shuddered underneath the warmth, breaking my concentration on the unconscious Ukitake.

"Thank you for taking care of him."

"I can't do much. I'm not really a healer."

He leant back and titled my chin up with a hand on the back of my head so that we were watching each other. His thumb came to swipe at the contour of my cheek, as he moved slightly so he blocked one ear out. Being deafened allowed me to hear the own pick up of my heart beat as he smiled down at me.

"Don't just smile you pervert. Get going." His hair fell onto his shoulder as he twisted his head over to the side. "Didn't Lisa give you a message?"

"She did." I could see the bruising around his nose where she had probably kicked him, but the man smiled through the pain nonetheless, as was his manner. "You could have come yourself, Yuko-chan."

"I couldn't have."

I brought my hands up and fisted them into his captain's haori. He needed no incentive to move and I didn't give him one either, but he ducked slightly towards me from just the motion. His eyes shown bright with a determination that I hadn't even known possible for him, and were wrapped in a cloak of darkness that I had seen only once before. Peering into the manifest despair, I saw in them, I shuddered.

"You're a dangerous man, Kyoraku."

"Yare~ I'd say it's the other way around."

I turned my head away, digging just a bit deeper into the fabric. "Are you upset?"

"No." His hand swooped down and he pulled the other up, so that they came to my waist. The new pressure had me looking down, at the cradle that he had created, and then up towards him. "Get him somewhere safe, and then come back."

"Of course." I nodded and with that, he collected up his swords again and was off, leaving only a trailing blaze along my skin to remind me that he had been there at all. "And tell your zanpakuto its time to start fighting."

He was painted in amusement and, with a new sort of jeering smile coming to his face, a sicking amount of knowledge about death. For being a pacifist, when it came to fighting the man really was a killer; a very strong one at that. It was just a peek into the part of himself that he never wanted to let show to anyone but the enemy was going to cut down. The type of game that he liked to play where only one side comes out the victor.

It was probably that part about his zanpakuto that he just couldn't get along with one hundred percent; that she'd play with her food to death. I knew that he, in theory, preferred the execution style that I used. Now I could see that there was a small meager part of his sensibility that was like her, though it went against his rational philosophy. Other than that, I think Kyoraku got along fine with her. He always got along with women.

 _This was the part that I got a peek at before… The part that shocked me into fearing him._

 ** _I guess he looks worth something with that look in his eyes._**

 _Hush, you silly hollow… Ayake-sama, it's still the same man._

 _Oh, I know. – I have to accept the whole of someone don't I?_

"She knows…. She says to stop nagging." Kyoraku brought me from my thoughts, and my eyes that had wandered across his face snapped back to his eyes. He had brought his sword up as if he was speaking directly with the inanimate object. Though, the spirit was probably badgering at me from inside it.

"I'm only nagging because she's letting you get beat up."

"So cute when you care, Yuko-chan~."


	46. Chapter 45

"Would you stop moving around so much?" I grunted and lifted the woman a bit further onto my back. Between her height and her muscle mass she probably outweighed me by at least fifty pounds.

I could feel the blood seeping in through the back of my shihakusho, collecting there. Everytime she moved it slipped across my skin, and created that awful squishing squelch sound. It was grating on my nerves to have moving around so much. Not only was it getting my back to look like a murder scene, but it was getting impossible to carry her at this rate.

Her blonde hair flung over my shoulder and she jeered, "why are you even saving me?"

"Why? - Isn't that obvious?"

"If it was would I be questioning you?" For someone that was pretty fatally wounded she had a lot of spirit left to talk back. Her voice was calm even though I knew that the undercurrent was filled with her rage.

I stopped and placed her onto the ground by the faccion that I had killed. They had been her's afterall, and if her reaction was anything to go by, she at least cared in her own way for their beings. Her eyes were drawn straight to their faces, and she gazed at each one for a minute befor she moved on to the next. She completed the circle several times before she dragged her slated eyes over to me.

"What is this?"

"You cared about them, didn't you?"

"You're the one that killed them."

The pain became intolerable and she curled up around the slash in her body. I bent down and started to get her a bit cleaned up before I could get through the process of cleaning her. She retaliated attempting to swing her arm at my face several times, but she was slow enough to dodge easily by this point. All it took was a faint twist of my head. The espada woman gave up after a few attempts more and then let her arm fall backwards.

"Why?"

 _This question again._ I furrowed my brows and started with the first step of kaido. It appeared as if they could be healed by the same time of healing procedure that was used on Shinigami. I shouldn't have been so surprised, given that our natures were very closely related. I took a look over to the tension in her face and then pressed a bit harder onto the wound to help stop the blood flow.

"If you really want to know. It's because you're not an enemy."

"I sided with Aizen…. I tried to kill your comrades."

"Sure, but now you're just another espada that's not dead but dying…. So would you stop putting so much resistance in this?"

She grunted and her body finally gave way to me. Her head titled over to face her comrades and she closed her eyes in resignation to her own weakness. To being helped by someone that had murdered those around her. Her reiatsu started to flow into mine own, and it was mixing into the wounds that were already starting to heal over. If I did much more than I would be too slow in the fight.

 _As soon as her wounds stop bleeding… She can deal with the scars herself._

"I still don't understand why you're healing an enemy."

I retracted my hands and looked at the injury before turning up to her face. "We're all equal when it comes to death. Whether you're my comrade or my enemy if there's something I can do then I might as well try."

"That completely contradicts your killing." Her hand came up and tapped to the forehead. I eyed the space of clean skin for a moment, and then took in her aqua eyes framed by the large blonde-white eyelashes. "It was execution style."

I shifted into a squat parallel to the direction of her body, so that I could look at the ones I had slaughtered and the one that I had saved. My eyes flickered between the two, noting the dried blood that was already around the hole's in their foreheads but nothing about their actual expressions. There was only so much that my soul could actually take.

"Though it makes nothing better, the only reason I killed them was because they were in the way."

"The way of what?"

"My honor." I set my chin onto my knees and looked at her. "My honor at protecting those that I choose to do so. I take no pleasure in killing the ones' that come at me, but I'll do it if necessary."

She fell silent and the air turned from stale to living again. The hatred in her still raged, no doubt. I had done enough attempts at reconciliation with the outer districts to know that anger ran deeper than any other emotion. Once trust was lost to mistrust, it was almost impossible to get back. The outer districts were almost abhorrent to being receptive to help after years of being let down, and gratitude was something felt very little. It would come once in a blue moon.

It's hard to change a system that remained stagnant for so long. The talks that I attempted to have, often turned to shouting matches about what hadn't been done. The past clinging to everyone's shoulders. There could be no peace while the souls toiled away in their aggression with muffled ears. Yet, I knew why they did so. It was hard to come to reconcile with the very thing that you hated, because you couldn't trust it to begin with. When would it come to strike again? When would the Shinigami fail again?

Peace, as I explained to the Sou-taicho, was putting the life before the emotion. That even in the darkness of that anger there could be some respect to the soul. To put that aside, and to still go and die for someone that held you in contempt and that you held in contempt, was the honoring of a soul's worth. That was enough for peace, in my books.

"What is your name, Shinigami?"

I broke from my thoughts and turned back to her. "Ayake Ichiyuko."

"Tier Halibel." I nodded my head at her and her eyes came to rest on me again. "Appaci, Mila Rose, and Sung-sun."

I didn't know exactly which one's were which but the names were significant nonetheless. "Thank you…. Now I can honor them properly."

"Everyone needs a name." Her eyes were flickering over towards where the real battle was just beginning.

I didn't bother to go and look, but I did rise from my squat. "I agree…. Everyone deserves a name to be remembered by."

Her eyes were on my trailing form, as I twirled out my ankles with each step that I took. I turned as I heard her call out to me, "what are you?"

"Hm?"

"With your mask?"

"Ah~ I am a soul that gained a zanpakuto spirit and was two…. Then an adjuchas hollow displaced some of its reiryoku into my spirit, where it festered into something else by way of the Hogyoku's power. She is like me, if only for the small bits of her mask and coating, and her eyes."

Tier coughed several times, and my eyes wandered over the splaying of blood. She'd need more care than I could afford to give her. She worked it through and then turned back to me. "Then we are similar."

"Aren't we all similar in our wants to live, no?"

There was a flare and I could grant her no more time. The conversation was done anyway. Whether she chose to believe me, think about me, or even forgive me were all up to her. I couldn't apologize, and I couldn't preach. We were nothing but passing faces and a moment in time from opposing sides. Our words to each other meant very little unless we chose to understand them and listen to them in some sense.

I shunpoed up and up and up. "Weave, Kumo."

The black slinked over my hands, and I pulled all the reiatsu black so that I would have a single black glove on my right hand. _Tsk._ I had missed it by moments and now Hiyori had the sword cut into her gut. At least Gin hadn't been able to make a clean swipe all the way through her chest, but the damage was already bruttle. I pushed back against it, and there was a squelch from her abodomen. The two of us opponents struggled to counter each other's strength.

"Yuko."

My eyes flickered over towards the distressed face on the girl. Her body and voice were nothing but a whisper before she went toppling over back towards the ground, blood holding still in the air by my eyes before falling with her. My eyes glanced down to see that Shinji had caught her before I pushed away from the sword. Gin had finally leverage off his strength.

"As quick as ever, Yuko-san." My eyes turned over to the ever grinning Ichimaru Gin. His sword was sliding back to its retracted state, as he came to stand up at his full height.

"Some things shouldn't have to change, Gin." I clenched my glove fist and then pointed over to him, raising an eyebrow. "You still like that candy, I used to give you?"

Whatever slouch he was in left posture was gone, and he cocked his head before lifting his hands up in innocence. Shinji's calls for Ichigo could be heard all the way up here, and I saw the twitch of the ex-captain's hand. From the corner of my eye I could make out Hachi going forward to the prone two. Aizen's chilled voice interloped through my ears, but it did nothing to cut me off from the threat that I was facing.

"Make a move and I'll chop your hand off, Gin."

"You're temper's gotten worse, Yuko-san."

"I suppose." I turned more directly towards him and his hand jerked onto the hilt. I eyed the movement and smirk came forward onto my face. I made a lazy travel back up towards his face, where the grin had settled into a thin line. "Are you scared Gin?"

I could make out the small swallow and my eyes lingered on his neck. He hunched forward slightly, cutting off the view and replacing it with his head. I had spent years learning how to assassinate people, as was the way of the second division. I knew all the execution shots by heart. With the way that Kumo was, I was practically built to be in the black ops. Yoruichi had noted it even before that and had helped me to hone it. Then Ukitake released me to get stronger at it.

I could make out the fox captain and the 69 fuku-taicho still occupying Tosen. They had been fighting for quite a while now, and they had come to a draw of some sort. If a captain and a fuku-taicho were like swatting flies for the man, then it could only mean that his power had built up far more than I had ever imagined possible. That, or the other two were completely wiped and should be replaced from the battle. It didn't matter who killed them, as long as they died.

Shinji was going up to Aizen, and while there was back chatter from them, the fight would be going soon. Shinji, who warped people's sense of direction, against Aizen, who could draw anyone under hypnosis.

I felt a new reiatsu come sweeping in and I raised an eyebrow at the new hollowfied version of Tosen. I turned my finger over to playful boy that I had once known. "Say… You going to answer the questions I ask?"

"That would depend on the question, Yuko-san."

"You still like that candy?"

His grin came back and he gave a happy shrug. "Absolutely."

I huffed under my breath and then crossed my arms. Kumo was residing in the pure glove for so it made it easy to move. I then cocked my head and took a few glances over at Tosen's fight and then back at Gin. My opponent followed the eye line but made no response.

"Have hollowfication?"

"No."

"You're being truthful for once… How surprising."

"You're being talkative for once, Yuko-san." His grinning face came circulating back to me and he adjusted slightly, attempting to appear casual. "Did ya miss me?"

I nearly laughed at the outrageous things that fell out of his mouth. Since he was a child and had entered the Gotei 13 it had always been that way. I would go around to the fifth and I would find him, and all he'd do is ask silly questions like that. The questions might have been innocent, but that slimed grin on his face was always off putting. If it hadn't been for that, I might have told him a few secrets. That, and the fact, that he was always following Aizen around at the time.

"Your friend is getting a bit testy, Yuko-san."

"So is yours."

While Shinji had finally allowed Sakenade to come through, Tosen had begun to badger on about justice and revenge. It was an interesting debate, and something I'd had already come to terms with myself time and time again. The Gotei 13 stood for justice, but it was only one justice and not a personal justice. When it came down to it, justice was just whoever stood at the top. They created the rules and they enforced them however they saw fit. Being impersonal, made the system corrupt because justice could never be non-biased.

I sighed as Tosen fell into his released state, but turned back over to Gin. He was still patiently waiting for my call and I slowly grew out my nails. His stance shifted instantly. I wandered briefly to the group of other Shinigami and Vizards that were standing back.

 _Let them rest, Ayake-sama._

 ** _They'd just get in the way_**

 _Hush the two of you… The battle starts now._

"You never did answer… Are you scared of me, Gin?"

I saw the small crack in his smile again and he stared. There was a small tremble on his lips before they parted up into a smirk. "Why should I need ta be?"


	47. Chapter 46

_I popped my head around the corner slowly. I could make out the small frame of the boy. He was a stout thing, with silver hair. Even from his back I could make out the thinness of his frame. To have accomplished the task of graduating in one year was something else, entirely. A walking genius in the halls of Division five, already a third seat, and gave Shinji the hell of the creeps._

 _"_ _Hey, boyo." I slipped out as I took to walking properly over towards him. When he turned I could see why Shinji was so put off. Not only did he seem very close to Aizen, but that smile on his face was pure cold._

 _"_ _You're…. Ayake-taicho." He paused as he took in the white haori and everything else as information. His eyes were closed down to mere slits so I couldn't see what he was eyeing, and his gaze was moving too quickly for me to pinpoint if he stopped anywhere._

 _He had a real mask on his face. With those eyes that hoovered practically closed and his tiny, sneaking smile that was apparently always there. There were no misgiving in his strength though. He was completely meant to be in the third seat, if not one below._

 _"_ _Yes."_

 _His posture seemed to pop a bit and he gave me a silly bow that had me raising an eyebrow at it. The boy seemed to really like being a caricature in front of other people. When he came back up there was an open-mouthed smile for the first time. He had completely straight teeth that clenched together, almost as if the feeling was a bit foreign to him._

 _"_ _Can I help you wit' somethin'?"_

 _ **This boy seems to talk in sarcasm**_

 _"_ _Might sound weird, but do you like candy?"_

 _I saw the smile falter for a brief second but then it returned. There was a slight mock in it now, and he raised an eyebrow. With being a genius, he just couldn't be a regular kid. He seemed to be wary of just about everyone that was around him; making sure to question their motives before they ever came closer to him._

 _ **What a distrusting young boy, Ayake-sama.**_

 **** ** _Absolutely._**

 _"_ _What type?"_

 _"_ _Not sure." I pulled it out of my sleeve and crouched down. As the pouch came through, I opened up the top and looked down into it before gesturing for him to take a look. He perched his head over to spy at it. "Ukitake gave them to me, but I'm not really in the mood for sweets. – Shinji also hates this brand, apparantly, so I'd thought I'd offer it to you."_

 _His skeletal hand sunk into the bag and he grabbed a few of the treats, before slinking back out. I eyed him as he considered the taste, meshing the candy slowly. My shoulders slunk down and I put my chin onto my head. He was still going at it, chewing away._

 _"_ _You're from the outer districts, then."_

 _He swallowed and then popped another candy in. He stood standing, and it left him a little above my squatting height. He seemed completely unfazed that I had known, although almost no one asking from what district people came from._

 _"_ _How'd cha know?"_

 _He was chewing away and then slowly sunk his hand into the bag again, before I offered it out to him cleanly. Districts were just something that supposedly stopped mattering after being officially joined the Gotei 13. Except, almost everyone was still surprised when outer district souls actually became strong Shinigami._

 _"_ _I did the same thing when I first tried candy." I smiled at him and wrapped my knees onto the top of my hands. The hand that was just about to put another candy in his mouth froze for an instant before he lowered it back down. "You know, when you chew it really slowly… And then you just keep eating it faster and faster until the whole pouch is empty."_

 _"_ _Yeah. - They're pretty tasty." He grinned again and then placed another into his mouth and chewed away._

 _Silently he also fell into a crouch, and we sat for a moment. Him just chewing and me just watching the sight. I must have had the same look on my face as Ukitake when he first gave me candy. It was something between marvel and amusement, as tore through the bag in slow eagerness. I did it everytime he gave me a new candy for practically a whole year. I would unravel the sweets one at a time, and slowly chew my way through them. Then instantly pop in another._

 _"_ _Don't tell anyone though." Gin turned his head back towards me, and nodded. I placed a forefinger to my lips in a shushing motions. "It's a secret."_

 _"_ _I'm good with secrets."_

 _A small chill crawled along my back as he said that. I could only assume that he was pretty good with secrets._

The problem with fighting someone like Gin was that our abilities were actually pretty similar. While his would just shoot out and strike at an amazing speed, he was adept had turning it around and retracting it quickly. While mine could go in almost any form I wanted, there was a restriction on how far back I could use them. My reach was shorter than his, but my flexibility was better.

I huffed and jumped onto of the sword making my way over. I could hear the sword as it was shrinking but I only pushed my speed and kept going. As I came forward, I swiped at his head from the right to left, as I was already on his right side. He ducked underneath my arm, and coming at me with a punch from the left. I scrambled through his, using a grip on it to circle around, and send a kick towards the back of his head as I came up on the other side. I heard his grunt and then released him to go flying forward. 

He put his hand up to his head, and held it there while finally giving me a glare. His face had become stoic in the process of our fight, minus the grunts and the twitches at his eye. I eyed his frame to see the small knicks that I had put there, and the patches of blood that he was doing his best to ignore.

"I feel a bit ashamed, Yuko-san…. You haven't even been fighting at your full power."

"You're right… I'm only distracting you."

"Distracting?"

I thrust my thumb over towards the battle that was going on. It was quickly sweeping into it not being in our favor. I felt my neck stiffen up and my teeth clenching. I, personally, couldn't see through the hypnosis since it was too strong, but I could feel that it was really taking a turn for the worse. Since Kumo didn't rely so much on sight, he only used his reiatsu senses and other sensory details to try and figure out what was going on around Aizen, but it never offered a clear image.

"Can't have you interrupting that."

"They'll lose."

"They will."

The shrug in Gin's shoulders immediately fell and his eyes cracked open in the shock. I could make out the sky blue that was just underneath before they shut closed. His lips came into a thin line and there was a pull down on his forehead. He drew up to his full height, which was always slanted due to his release position, and relaxed nature in general.

"You don't believe in your comrades."

"I believe in Aizen's hypnosis more." The response was immediate, and the ex-captain let out a snicker. I rolled out the tension in my own shoulders, and then cracked my head. "It may sound bad, but Aizen already let out his hypnosis. I'm waiting for it to crack."

"And how'd you know that?"

"Tell me something Gin… How long did it take for the man to figure out what my zanpakuto was?"

"Not very long."

"Then I've known for a little less time, I suppose… Spiders don't rely on their sight because it's not very good, even if they have multiple eyes. Kumo's the same way. He picks up the slack in other sensory details, particularly reiatsu."

"No wonder Aizen wanted ya locked up."

I shrugged and then slanted back into position. My jaw twitched as I felt Kyoraku's reiatsu falter, and I briefly glanced back to see that the three captains – tiny, Kyoraku, and Soi-fon – had all fallen over with slashes. My eyes shuffled closed and I brought in another sense of release as I breathed out a heavy air in my lungs. The air was already starting to boil with the Sou-taicho's reiatsu, and it was started to make my insides burn up.

I flickered and appeared up behind the younger ex-captain. He barely had time to dodge as I shot a burst of hadou at his frame. Whilst ducked he tried to nab at my side through his own clothing, but I swung away from the interfering blade, and sent a clean swipe at his chest. He pushed back just in time to dodge the blow.

"Nearly took my head off."

"Not your head, boyo. Your heart."

He scuffled his feet and put more distance between us again. He was stalling for time, but, then again, so was I. The last of the pack from one hundred years ago wasn't here yet, and I'd have to see how that was coming about. Gin was a difficult fight in his own right, but if the others needed me then I would gladly shift over to fight Aizen with them.

"You've gotten much scarier, Yuko-san."

I turned back over to his still creepily composed face, and the sighed. "Have I?" I put my hands onto my hips, letting the nails clatter into criss-crossing in front of my legs. "Since we both have the same idea, why don't you tell me why?"

The words fell away as the Sou-taicho's reiatsu spiked up suddenly. An instant sweat came over me and I stared around at the seven pillars of fire that were circling around him and Aizen. The breath caught in my throat, and the muscles clenched up. The air around was already drying out in the general vacinity, and the wind was being siphoned further and further away from the spot, leaving gusts escaping towards us.

I put my hand up to protect myself from the incoming ash. If he released that technique then the whole area would be completely destroyed. My teeth gritted down. He really shouldn't be using that. There's no way to know if Aizen was even in there. What if that wasn't the true him? Then we'll be out of the strongest man in the the Soul Society, even if he is a traditional old fool.

"Where are you looking?" I heard the whisper right by ear, before a sword stuck straight into my gut.

The breath left me and my eyes grew wide. Slowly, I turned my head to see Gin's leering face over my shoulder, and then ducked it down. During the distraction he had used the opportunity to come up close and stick his sword straight clean. I growled as he started twisting it about so that he could make a clean slice towards my side. I grabbed his zanpakuto and countered the twist as well as possible, before sticking my leg up and slamming it straight back into his torso. The whomp from his mouth echoed around as he went shooting back.

I turned slowly and put my hand over the wound. The blood was moving freely out, but it wasn't bad enough for me to be completely out of the picture. "You cheeky bastard."

He swiped at the blood that had come up from the kick. "You've still got that much strength huh?"

"Weren't you the one that said I wasn't taking it seriously?" I chuckled a bit and began to focus some more on the wound.

I emerssed into healing it up a bit; just enough to stop the bleeding a bit. It'd be a pain because it was almost impossible to do the first stage, so I'd have to skip over that. I pressed down and pushed the kaido into the wound, grunting a bit and bandaging the sounds with a tough bite to my lip.

"Do you think I'll just let you do that?"

I looked up, not stopping the healing, and watched as the sword came slinking towards me. I had gotten used to its speed a long time ago, and I could outmatch it by at least a step. I began to back track, leaping to safety, but I was jolted forward by a major blast that came from behind. I ducked under the sword just in time to avoid another blow to my body.

Using my other hand, I gripped onto Gin's sword and kept it steady. The great thing about using Kumo as gloves was the natural defensive mechanism that he gave me. He was perfectly designed in my opinion, having both offensive and defensive powers, although they both could really only help my person. It was the perfect combat weapon, when harnessed by someone who knows hakuda like I do.

I glanced briefly at the scene that I had been distracted from. The pillars of fire were long gone, but the blast had definitely been made of the same reiatus. My keen eyes couldn't decipher anything from the mess, so I just turned back to Gin when he made a forceful attempt to dislodge my hand. I brought my other hand up, and gripped onto the sword.

"You've forgotten Gin… I'm also a threat physically."

I took the sword up and then sent him flying in an arch through the sky. He could have easily let go, but that mean losing his zanpakuto, and therefore his main means of power. I smashed him straight through a set of buildings before releasing the sword. The hole in my gut twinged slightly but I stared in marvel at the new sight of kido that was created.

 _Ayake-sama move!_

I blinked several times and made out the body of Aizen that was coming trapessing out of whatever kido had taken place. Ichigo-boyo was moving towards him as well. I slunk Kumo down so that I had some nails and then pulled my mask down. The new reiatsu helped to off set the pain that I was feeling. I zoomed off trying to catch the two that would be clashing soon.

 _Move faster, damnit!_

The air burned through my lungs, not cycling through fast enough as I attempted to pick up the pace. I could make out the tension in my legs as they clenched and unclenched to keep up with what my mind was racing through. My heart was frantic in my chest, ramming and nearly shatter my rib cage with each step. I needed to get there before Ichigo could get wounded. I needed to be there.

 _Fuck my legs… Fuck my ribs…_

I thrust my hand forward, cero right on the tips of the finger and aimed right for Aizen's side. He had been moving all about with his walking. It was either his front or his back that I wanted, but the side would do just fine. I had swiped past Ichigo easily, and the incoming Isshin. Gritting my teeth, I plunged forward, and tore clean through the hand that he put up. Fighting back the sudden shaking of pain that had my body convulsing, and let go of the tiny ceros on each of my fingers.

 _…_ _No, Ayake-sama._

I jumped back and stumbled right into Isshin's supporting arm. As my mask disintegrated away, I let the breaths come out as much as possible. My ears were ringing slightly; still with the wind at them to clog up any noise. Isshin stayed firm, his free hand clenching onto my shoulders to keep my half upright.

Slowly I slipped down so that I was kneeling. Instead of focusing on all the creaking, I had an enemy to take care of. I looked at the unharmed image of the man. He must have put up an illusion since he probably sensed me coming. I let out a few more breathes, as I watched the movements of his mouth. It was good that I couldn't hear his voice at all. It was good enough to already see the cold heartless smile on his face.

"Dad?" My head jolted at the sudden word, and I spied Ichigo through the underside of Isshin's arm. His face was completely twisted into shock; eyes wide with some sort of pain.

I stood up protectively as Isshin began to move, and then flashed away once those two were out of sight. I ducked behind a few buildings to get out of the way, and slunk into the shadows that I had gotten used to.


	48. Chapter 47

**A/N: Hello people! So I believe this will be the second to last update since the story is coming to a close. I'm so happy to see and hear that many of you have liked the story and have been excited to see how it will progress. We're almost to the conclusion, and I hope that you'll enjoy.**

Behind a few building, I sunk down into the ground in a very abstract 'N' shape. The line of my feet to my knees bent up, then my thighs down to my stomach sunk down, and my back rested up against the wall behind me. My eyes rolled back slightly before I shut them tight, crinkling them. My jaw locked up and breathed out heavily through my nose. Continuing the process of deep rumbling breathes, I inched my hands to the wound on my side.

I tucked my fingers straight into it, and pulled the reiatsu from the inside out. I let go of my breath in small pants, as I gently pulled the kaido through the whole wound and tried to heal it that way. It wasn't a medical technique at all. It was just an idea that came to me, so that I could seal the damn thing away and close up any leftover damage. I pushed my kaido into the damn thing until it brought tears to my eyes, and I felt it boiling over.

 _This is not good at all._

My legs were also cramping up and I could feel that I few tendons had split or at least were heavily factures from the way that I was using shunpo. I had made a dumb decision to race over to get in the middle of the fight, and now it had cost me my legs. I grabbed hold to it with my other hand as I flexed my foot, but the pain sent me toppling over to my side.

 _Ayake-sama…. Please calm down._

 _I need to get back out there._

 _You won't be any use if you injury yourself more._

The wound in my gut slowly began to sizzle and I could feel a bit more of the sensations as the nerves started to connect. It was actually worse than I had imagined. It was a regular stab wound, but it had pinched all the way through cleanly. It had cut off a few of the sensations on my side, and I part of the muscles were cut through as well. The slow restructuring was neigh impossible with my inefficient knowledge and my limited amount of time. Then I would have to deal with my legs.

 ** _Would you shut up? … Stop your god damn whining._**

 _It's not like you feel the pain, Ichi._

 _ **I don't care about the pain. Your voice is grating**_ _._

 _I could say the-_

 _ **It's the damn hopelessness in it**_ _._

I blinked a few times, and pulled back from the conversation. My view had tilted over when I had fallen, but I would have been staring at bricks either way. They were a bland brownish gray, stacked one on top of the other. To a builder the ones at the bottom were always the most important, for they were the ones that had to have to most stability. Without their stability then the top would cave in easily, or the structure would lean and eventually collapse to the side.

My eyes fell closed and I gently turned onto my back, building up the reiatsu to keep the wound healing. Slowly my breathing evened out, and I kept it that way by focusing on the breaths that I breathed in and out slowly. Even as my calves cramped up, I kept them as still as possible. Any time I felt tension building up, I focused my mind on those areas and wrung the tension back out like it was a soaked towel.

In desperate times, I've heard souls call for hope. Hope is a double edged sword though. It is something that keeps people moving and it keeps them fighting against whatever the negative force should be. However, should that hope fall through through evisceration or other painful ways, the depths it can send someone down are crushing.

It is very hard to find hope in that darkness or that fragility. It's like describing a color to a person born blind. There is no way of knowing when you'll understand how to find hope again, because you don't know why you hoped at all. The very definition of it seems foreign in a person's head.

 _Yet it's more important to cling to hope before death… Right, Ayake-sama?_

I said nothing but nodded in return to the thought that Kumo sent through me. That definition of hope never comes until it sends a great big whallop to your face and declares itself. I opened my eyes back up to the sky, and dragged my fingers just a bit further up the wound. I was getting closer and closer to my abodomen as I went.

 _There!... And thanks Ichi._

 ** _Just stop the goddamn whining._**

I sat up and touched around at the spot where the injury used to be. It had been a fleeting idea, but it seemed that using kaido like that could work. I twisted the spot and tested its durability with a quick punch. My eye flinched, and I put my hand back flat on top of it. The internal damage was no where near restored and it was very sensitive to touch, but it would hold up without splitting. I just didn't need it opening half-way through any movement. That was the most important part.

I tucked my knees in and started in on the calves that were torn up. As I was doing so, I spread out my senses as far as I could. It was easy to overhear the clangs of steel as they went about, and the bursting of buildings as they fell apart. There was a constant breeze of dust in the air too, from all the rubble that was building up.

In all of that mess, I could make out the four strong pinnacles of reiatsu. Isshin was most likely fighting Aizen, both of whom were strong in the midst of their fighting. Aizen's was a bit harder to read and was slowly evaporating as time went on but it still carried out clear as the sky above me. Isshin was holding as strong as ever. It was good to feel his familiar presence in the midst of all this. A small smirk came to my face, as I realized that he really had grown from the unseated man that I had been introduced to me.

My eyes narrowed though at the fact that Gin had released his bankai. I had no clue what it could possibly be, but there wasn't too much evolution to what he shikai state did. Knowing that he was captain though, he must have been very adept at it. The worst is not having the bankai, but being adept at using it. I gritted my teeth and rolled my eyes at the obviousness that he had been taking it easy on me before hand.

 _I don't understand… You too were taking it easy on him, Ayake-sama._

 _It's because he was complaining about not being able to keep up with me._

 ** _He probably couldn't, even with his bankai. - Doesn't feel like he'd make a very good fight. Take the other guy._**

 _Yeah… I'll just get in the way of a hollowfying Aizen…. You fight idiot._

 ** _Don't call me that!_**

I huffed and let out a few chuckles at Ichi's protests. Ever since Inoue had come around I had found myself laughing just a slight bit more than usual. It was nice to be around someone so innocent, and it put my heart at ease that the boyo had gotten to save her before it was too late. Although, it was useless to go through the past, it was upsetting that he had rushed into Hueco Mundo. Didn't he realize that getting Aizen would mean a basically free pass into that world? The espada had only joined up because of Aizen's ability, without him leading them they would have dispersed and we could have taken her before it ever got so bad.

 ** _You just wanted a piece of that espada that got you._**

 _…_ _. I guess you could say that too._

I did want a bit of settle on our score. What fight wasn't slightly personal? Not even the duties to the Gotei 13 could keep from being personal. All captains felt some sort of tug to protecting the place for different reasons, and that helped them achieve their obligatory duties when the time came. It was the pay back for everything else that we had received from the place.

My thoughts darted back towards the situation again when I felt Aizen's reiatsu. There was also a break in the barrier, and I felt Kisuke coming through a bit more strongly than before, but I focused on the hollowfication of Aizen. Actually, it wasn't quite like that. He was transcending past that stage of vizard, and entering another plane.

 _Just a little bit more_. I turned my eyes down to the slowly smoothing leg. The cramps had been so bad that the muscles had actually deformed both of them to the point I wouldn't have called them calves. Now they wre almost back to normal. Thankfully, I had taken all those kaido sessions from division four all those years ago and even from the small lessons that Isshin had given me. It was turning out to be one of the most helpful trick in this whole war.

I stretched out my foot a few times, and then grabbed onto the arch to pull it up towards the air. Though making a very awkward three dimensional 'O', it allowed me to stretch out the calf muscles the best and the quickest. I smirked when nothing came passing through, minus the normal tension that always occurred.

I hopped up to my feet and jumped a few times, and then stretched out my arms. I pulled them up towards the sky, putting the palms face up. I picked up the sword that had lain by my feet, having fallen in the clatter to the ground. I spun it a few times between my fingers, and tossed it up. I sighed when it came back into my palm, and then cracked my neck.

 _Shall we go, lady and gentleman?_

 _As always, Ayake-sama_

 ** _Let's go kick some ass_** _…_ _._ _ **Please tell me I get to kill someone**_ _._

 _…_ _. That's a tough call, but I'll do my best._

 _ **Psh, you get all mixed up with killing…**_

 _Your way of saying that I shouldn't kill anyone?_

 _ **That's not it!**_

I chuckled under my breath and then hopped up onto the roof tops. The fights had moved a bit further than I had anticipated, but I could make out the impact area. There was some sort of crater, from the denting in the ground and the toppled over building. I could make out the five distinct reiatsus now, and I breathed them in. I took a quick moment to let myself scent them and for Kumo to dissolve them down. It wasn't necessary, but it gave me another moment's peace before I was running on a time limit again.

When I landed on the site of destruction, it was to find Kisuke locking Aizen in the binds of high level bakudou. "Hadou 91: Senju Kouten Taihou."

I jumped down to the street level and got only a quick glance from my former disciple. The boyo was staring up at the he forming smog and burning reiatsu to give me any notice. Gin eyed at my wound, and I tinkled my fingers at him with a smirk.

Aizen had come through the destruction still in his forming stage. At first glance it looked like a simple white dress, but looking harder at it, the substance as the same as a hollow's mask. The ex-captain was almost completely covered, minus the half of his face. The mask that was forming there wasn't completely done, and it arched far above his hair line. There were a few odd formations coming from right shoulder which looked a bit like electrical bolts.

I slide my foot just an inch forward and inched my sword hilt into my skin at the sight of Kisuke's blood. Kisuke reacted too slow and caught off guard by a minor slash to his chest. I couldn't make out his reaction from this place, but if he hadn't caught the blow it was because he was caught by surprise.

 _No…. That's not it._

Aizen's speed had increased and his reiatsu was almost indecipherable. Something was mingling into him, and Kumo whispered into me that it was the Hogyoku's own reiryoku that was reforming his own soul. I had to remind myself that he wasn't going through a typical hollowfication process. He was becoming something on an entirely different level.

"There is no longer any need to be on guard." Even his voice was becoming slightly more hollowfied. "I can feel it… My body has subjugated the Hogyoku and now my abilities, that were surpressed, are now climbing to new heights. - Even 90th level kidou will no longer work."

"I think you've misunderstood. In the past, you never would've come into physical contact with me twice – without any kind of plan."

I hitched a breath at the cuffs that appeared on Aizen's wrists. Kisuke had developed something entirely different from what had been placed on me, it seemed. It was a complete bind, and there was an immediate suction on whatever reiatsu could be felt. I lifted my hand to the flash of bright light, and shut my eyes tight at the outpouring of the blast.

 _That scientist is as mad as ever, Ayake-sama._

 _He's doing his job._

Kisuke flickered over to us and immediately set on us to be on guard. I clenched up Kumo and then immediately released him into his shikai state. Aizen's reiatsu was already peaking back up at Kisuke's back. My eyes flickered over towards Kisuke whose lips quarked as they settled on me. This was my partner in action, and it settled my heart.

 _Let's hope we haven't lost our rhythm_

Aizen was stepping forward with his body fully formed. The undone mask had finally sealed shut, and left him nothing but a walking white body, minus the black eyes. I could finally see the hogyoku that was stuck into his chest. It sent out four thin streaks across his chest, looking like a cross had formed there with the center burning brightly.

"What the hell is that?" whispered out Ichigo, though it leapt suddenly in surprise at the end.

Aizen had moved too fast for any of us to notice, and was suddenly stepping down on the pavement. I brought my hands up immediately and sunk down onto my knees just lightly. My mind vaguely measured out his words, as I narrowed down all my focus to my senses.

The new Aizen was completely unafraid and he was letting his guard go. I would have called it too confident, if it were not for the fact that he was acting like a blimp of nothing in my senses. I was doing my best to hone in on them, but everything had been completely negated. Every smell, and every sense of reiatsu. If it were not for his voice talking claiming his presence, I could have walked right by him.

 _Breathe, Ayake-sama._

 _ **Yeah, like that damn spider said, don't start whining again.**_

I breathed in deep and settled the rapid pace of my heart. There was no real time to collect myself, but I let myself fall into the instincts of fighting. _I hear you both. Stay with me._

 _As always, Ayake-sama._

 _ **Che - Don't start with that shitty sentimental stuff**_

Both Kisuke and Isshin made the moves at the same time, trying to swipe at him from the two sides. Isshins' sword caught on the heel of the man's shoe, and Kisuke's by his hand. When they were forced backwards, I heard the faint dangling of chains. Then Yoruichi's body came flinging down, and I stared through the explosion of dust to see her making moves.

I moved swiftly and collected the woman into my arms just as the blast was coming through. Kisuke was calling out to her at the same time, but I was able to catch her before she got claimed by the blast that Aizen had sent up. Her eyes were wide open with shock at the moment, but then they focused on me. They narrowed down and gave me a nod of thanks, before we both settled down.

"Yuko—"

"You're not done are you? Come - quickly reveal your next trick. I'll defeat them all, until the very last one has gone to waste." Aizen came standing up, as if nothing was happening and the cracks in his chest where nothing but paper cuts. "The number of methods you have… They are testaments to your power and effort, but they are also the amount of hopes that you have. - It is my duty to crush each one."


	49. Chapter 48

Kisuke and Yoruichi went into a bickering session about the armor that she was wearing. Kisuke was acting coyly about the fan that he had adopted to his person. Between the hat and the fan, it really suited the new mask that he had formed. Actually, it was probably a better representation of his more wicked nature that had lain behind that dope that I had first met. Though, I did kind of miss the kindness in him. Time changes everything and he needed to put on a different show to get through. That I could understand.

I sighed and crossed my arms. Yoruichi had stayed the same as ever. Her consistency was quite welcome. But it made battles like this hard. They sometimes couldn't get out of their own arguments and they always spiraled into some other completely off tangent topic that had no finish. My eyes flickered over to the obviously pathetic face that Isshin was giving us, but I just shook my head at it. This was by far the norm, but it always caught people off guard.

"I see." My eyes turned over to the ever patient Aizen. A man with confidence could wait a thousand lives, it seemed. "The fact that your leg is in tact would suggest that it was something special indeed."

"You mean this one, right?"

I snickered briefly at the hit to Kisuke's little jab. It didn't even come to a halt as Aizen was starting to come forward. I had no patience for his words after all. I did, though, turn my head to watch as he was wandering up.

"Is there something funny Ayake?"

I blinked at the sudden turn of attention before I shrugged my shoulders. "Nice to know some things don't change."

"You speak confidently. Do you have some sort of plan now?"

"Nope." I popped the 'p' at the end before loosening up my arms. Kisuke was whispering over towards Yoruichi as Aizen took another step forward at that. "Just killing you."

Aizen flashed forward inbetween both Kisuke and Yoruichi, but the fist that he was sending towards the ground was enough to get us all moving. We all moved quickly up to the air, since it was easier to avoid the rubble that way. In a quick bought Yoruichi had already lost her right hand and so she could no longer touch him with that. It was her dominant hand too.

"Are you alright?" Kisuke asked taking a look at this invention.

"I said it before - who do you think you're talking to?"

I looked down at my glove and its nails. The material was so resistant to about everything. Perhaps, then it could also keep up with whatever was coating Aizen. If his coating was inpenetrable than I was out of luck completely. I shifted my focus back up to the material.

 _What do you suppose it is?_

 _I can't say, Ayake-sama._

 _ **Just give him a wallop and see how it goes.**_

 _…_ _Do you even understand what that means?_

 _ **I'll just take you over if ya fail.**_

I sighed back and tuned into the conversation that was going on.

"I'm watching you, thinking that the pretense of concern is one of your tactics."

"Yuko!"

It was very obvious but Aizen and Kisuke continued on as if the shout didn't happen at all. My head turned over towards Isshin who was firmly pointing a finger backwards over his shoulder. I raised my eyebrow and saw that the boyo was getting smashed by Gin's bankai shot a bit behind him. I pursed my lips and turned back to the man, but he jammed his finger again.

 _He wants me to deal with Gin then?_

I closed my eyes and then settled down. However, it ended up being impossible. As I was starting to move towards the boy, Aizen shot out and pushed me back. I was thrust into the middle of the fray, half winded, as Kisuke sent another Kidou blast towards him so that Aizen wouldn't see Yoruichi coming from the side.

Whilst Yoruichi got caught up in her movements, Kisuke and I began to move quickly. We only had a few seconds to get into position so that we could prepare before Aizen bashed Yoruichi away. I forced the ex-captain into the ground, my eyes widening at the cracking of his outer skeleton. At the very least I had found that I could do that. I quickly retracted though, as Kisuke overlayed his binding technique over the ex-captain. It was a net made of blood red strings that looked like a slightly more complicated train track. Instantly, Kisuke alight it with the flames that it used in conjuction with the binding.

I settled next to my two men and watched as the explosion reached its high point and then came down low. Aizen came to a stand and was saying something but I was caught in the sight of Isshin preparing his attack. The tag team had worked the last time, so I sent Kumo out and slashed down as well. Isshins' was more effective as it came in through his head down to his feet, but I was able to create deep wells into Aizen's back. Between the two of us we used enough force to send him crashing to the ground.

"Well?" I turned slightly over to Kisuke who joined us down here. He came walking up and placed a hand onto my shoulder, and I nodded to his small incline of his head.

"Since he took on the form," Isshin began, "his reiatsu has been completely unreadable…"

 _Kumo, anything?_

 _…_ _I think there may be something there._

 ** _Don't cha feel it? He's pretty powerful that guy._**

 _Ichi you have something?_

 ** _Oh yeah, the tag team was a bust_**.

Not moments later her words were proven true as Aizen was seen standing again. His mask was cracked open and the top, with several other parts fraying into shards. If you looked closely, all you could make out was a blackness on the inside. It was like his mode had completely disintegrated inside. The Hogyoku was still burning brightly, and seemed to flash as something new was about to begin. I sunk my head down as Aizen began to speak completely calmly.

"I understood that attack." Isshin's words echoed what I had been thinking. This hollowfication process was just unthinkable. I swallowed quickly and shifted more into my stance as Aizen picked up his sword. "Now I feel that it is time… That you understand my power."

My teeth gritted down at the flourish in his body. Ichi was screaming out that his reiatsu had spiked beyond something comprehensible, and I found myself flung straight through two buildings. The impact of his arm winded me immediately, but I flipped around and used my feet to push through the cement, instead of my back. I sat up shakily only moments afterwards, and slowly came to a stand. I hacked up a few coughs, seeing the blood come and splatter onto the ground.

 _Holy shit. He shattered at least four ribs with that…. More actually_

 _…_ _Will you be alright, Ayake-sama? It was right at your sternum_

Kumo knew better than anyone that I would not be backing out from this fight no matter what the injury. We had set the minimum to unconsciousness, but if I even had an ounce of strength I'd be giving it to the fight. I let out a quiet sigh and looked down to the ground to steady. The maximum was to become a hollow, or die.

I shuddered just at the slightest movement but I started trudging into a slow walk. Each move felt like something else was cracking, but so long as my hands moved then I'd be getting back. Slowly I inched into a shunpo and went back to the fight.

When I landed I immediately got into rescueing Kisuke from a slaughter. We tumbled, and I was forced to let go of him from the force. I pushed him away with a kick, as Aizen's hand was coming down my chest. I heard Kisuke's wakeful cry, but I focused on using my two hands to stop the push that was denting me into the ground.

"Ayake." Aizen pulled up his fist and I was able to dodge the fist by tilting my head. "Impressive you saw that."

I swung my legs onto his hips and we toppled over to the other side. As soon as I was on the upside, I brought Kumo to strike through his chest, but Aizen had caught the fingers. I slipped into a split and put one foot by the right side of his face, and moved the other to under his left arm pit. I came to a stand and brought him up with me. I arched my back and flung him in a quick succession.

Isshin attempted to catch Aizen as he was flung but Aizen got a good kick to his face, which sent the Kurosaki man flying backwards. I huffed and grabbed at my chest, coming down to a kneeling position and coughing out more blood. I made out the splatters of the blood on the ground below, and felt the way that one last drop trickeled down from my chin.

"Ayake…" I turned to the hollowfied man. "You are already dead."

Kisuke went in for a few attacks, followed by rebounds from Yoruichi but the two were sent flying back. My eyes narrowed at the glint that Hogyoku let out, before I stumbled my vision over towards the swing that Isshin was trying to land on the ex-captain. Aizen easily caught it with his heel, and with a flick to a fly Isshin was soaring backwards into another building.

When the hollowed man turned back to me fully, I pressed into the ground and got to my feet. My teeth clenched at the shatter, and I felt the bones slowly drop somewhere off into my organs. I huffed in a few breathes, finding that almost no air was around me. I continued to do so useless, because at least my eyes weren't bluring yet.

"You're right." I got the choked words out, before spitting out a wad of blood that had curdeled in my throat. "I decided to die here."

"I commend your impressive resolve."

I heard the shifting of fabrics but I put my hand up to Kisuke who was making his way over here. Yoruichi was down for the count after that last blow. I could make out her reiatsu, which was enough to let me know that she was unconsciousness and not dead. She must have taken a blow to the head. It was everyone's most vulnerable place afterall. Isshin was also picking himself up, and I could make out his form stumbling towards the hole in the wall he had gone through over Aizen's shoulder.

"How long have you known that I was hollowfied?"

"Since the beginning of course." My eyes narrowed at the newly regenerated face that was speaking. "Though, I will admit that you maintain the hollow reiatsu was an actual surprise."

"So you gave me something extra, huh?"

"Yes. I guess you could say you got two experiments done on you. – Congratulations on surviving."

If my lungs hadn't shattered I probably would have laughed at the completely nonchalant way that he said that. It did make me think briefly about which had been stronger; the adjuchas that had gotten to me or the poison that Aizen had slipped me. I swallowed again, and then brought my hand up to my head. Slowly, I drifted the mask down and let Ichi slip through just a bit.

"A true captain of the Soul Society."

"Not a captain anymore." I smirked underneath it and my eyes shot open. I had no high speed regeneration but the energy was nice. "Shall we continue then?"

"If you would like to."

I shunpoed forward and made a brave swing for his head, but he ducked underneath it and went for a slash at my stomach. I had picked up more than a few habits from the onmitsukido, and had learned to keep extra fabrics always on hand for "Onmitsu shunpo shiho no san – utsusemi." I had taken a lot of time to build up my shunpo to be that fast, but with Yoruichi's determination I had got there.

I used the technique to appear behind his back and get a good slam into his side. He was pushed only slightly away, since he had hardened up instantly. I wasn't sure if he had let me get the kick in. If he had, the man really needed to get better jokes, but I had gotten the skin to crack. I went for the hole, hoping to stick Kumo into it.

"Futile."

His sword came out. My teeth gritted back and I felt all the tendons in my neck pull as I strained my head away. I got just far enough away for it to only be a shallow line up the face of my torso. Kisuke appeared up behind him shooting some kido, and I used that as I chance to back up. I watched as Isshin took another swing with 'getsuga tenshou' but it did nothing.

It was then I noticed that my leg was broken into pieces, as I stumbled a step and nearly broke into a scream. I looked down to seem the clear fracture in the leg, which had the bottom half of my calf bent towards the right. There was also a fracture further up, right under my knee cap, but it wasn't visible. I could feel it when I put pressure down on the limb, and it sent a bolt through my entire body.

 _No time… Push_

I crinkled up my face and got moving on my one leg. I got to both Kisuke and Isshin as they were both flung backwards again. Down on the speed, I used the momentum of their own movements, to swing around and to catch the two. Otherwise my arms would have also shattered from the force that they were being funneled through the air. It was also good that I was wearing the mask. The extra strength helped considerably to dilute some of Aizen's strength.

I set the two down next to me slowly, not wanting to exacerbate any injuries in my chest primarily. Although, my leg was also creating a hard pill to swallow. I dedicated to looking through their bodies, to not peer into how my own injuries were doing. It was enough to know that I was panting and had a cold sweat leaking down my back like a waterfall.

"How long can you hold that?" Isshin ground out as he used his sword to leverage himself up.

"A while… Though, considering that I'm running a bit on fumes, it might not last as long as I want."

I gathered Kisuke up by his forearm and got him standing steady next to me. He was never the type to use physical force so he was a bit worse for wear. He leaned into my heavily, but tried not to make it so noticeable to our enemy. Isshin was also leaning heavily onto the sword by now, and he probably had more than a few shattered bones in him, as well.

"Yuko-chan…. we'll give it one last go."

I turned over to my blonde haired partner. We looked straight at each other, with nothing between us anymore. No veils and no lies. We passed the secrets before us plainly. I let out a sigh in response to his ragged expression of the plan. He'd be taking a hell of a blow if we actually did this properly.

"Alright." I set Kisuke onto his feet and then turned over to my old fourth seat. I bent over, belching out a breath, as I snapped the bones back to where they should be. They'd pop out immediately when the next round started, but at least it looked like I had another leg. "Boyo you still got some energy left?"

The man divulged a smirk to his understanding and took up his sword again, and gave it a little shake. "I'll make it worth the while."

I nodded and then turned back to the ex-captain that was stood waiting for us, sword by his side, and only a small tilt of his head as he considered us. I began to slowly raise up my reiatsu, pulling from all the pours that I possibly could. There was a creak everywhere in my body, tumbling out through my pores at every second. My body wouldn't withstand the impact at all. Kisuke and Isshin moved forward and did there best to hold off the positions, not aiming for the final attack yet.

 _Are you sure about this Ayake-sama?_

 _Not at all._

 ** _Power us up…. Power us up!_**

I may not have been as fast as Yoruichi, but I was one of the few that had always given her a good chase. I was the best person that she had ever taught, she told me once, since I already had a high aptitude for it. I began to jostle around, trying to make my movement as inconspicable to the hollowfied speed of the ex-captain as possible. I jumped and looped and flipped, getting between blows and helping the other two to avoid blows when I could. Simultaneously I got a few knicks into his skin, although the high speed regeneration did nothing to show the results for the effort.

Finally Kisuke got the man chained again down in his zanpakuto's binding, along with a few bakudou spells. Isshin made a clear swing at the man with a flaming getsuga blow. I came up on top of the man, and built up the biggest cero that I could. I had slowly be stowing up for it throughout the second hand that was clicking down. Then I shot it down onto the head, just as Isshin had moved back.

The dust didn't even have to settle before Aizen came shooting out pushing first at Kisuke, and then at Isshin. I huffed and didn't even bother looking as Aizen came up on top of me and sent me flying down into the earth with a kick.

I had turned in time to ward off part of the blow with my hands, but it still caught me. My mask disintegrated almost immediately as I was sent down into the ground. The force was so much that I bounced twice before I became a cement angel in the ground. What was left of my chest was cracked into dust in my coffin. There wasn't even an echo of scream that I could have produced. I was a boneless mess as I finally sunk into the ground, knowing that it would carry what was left of my weight; what was left of my disintegrated body.

My eyes bleared over as the last bounce caught a knock to my head. There was a small splutter of light and I could make out Aizen and Gin talking through fading lights. Then, I slipped into the darkness that was no longer terrifying for me.


	50. Chapter 49

**A/N: Hello people. So when I was writing I wasn't thinking that the last chapter (chapter 48) could be considered the end. It was only after I got a few comments from some of you that I realized how final it might have seemed. I was tempted to keep it that way, but it would have conflicted with something else that I've been working on. So, I've decided to post the last chapters and finish the story as I originally wrote it.**

 **On another note, the other projects I've been working on for Bleach are kind of considered companion stories to this piece. Since, there's been such wonderful reception to this story (thank you all so much for that, by the way!) I wanted to reach out and see how much interest there was for the other stories. Please comment/review just so I can see if people would like to read about my other characters.**

"Holy shit." Love whispered out.

His eyes had fluttered at the rumble that had the whole ground quaking. His head shifted as he peered over to see that everyone in the vacinty had felt it. Division four had gotten to everyone since the fighting had moved away, and triage needed to start instantly. The captains, although wounded, were awake and getting treated. As well, as all the vizards who were keen on watching Unohana as she was making due with Hiyori's injuries.

The blast was not something expected though, in the time of unstable peace. It caused a shudder to make a wreck through every single one of them that was awake. People were stopping their work to get to see the piles of dust that were mounting higher and higher. The wind came rushing through them and the gust had all the tents popping and snapping at the force.

Shinji gritted his teeth, his whole body going into convulsions as the wind died to gentle breezes. His hands clenched into the ground, dragging it with him, as he closed his fingers into his fists. He felt at the breath come through shakily, sipping through his teeth, and released in a hiss.

"That damn girl."

Love and Rose, being the closest, turned in on their pseudo leader and then back towards where the blast had come from. Love finally gathered back the strength to say something, "that was Yuko?"

"Damn straight." Shinji turned his eyes down to the ground and closed them tightly, releasing a loud "che" in anger.

"What the fuck did she just do?"

Their gazes shot as the reiatsu that they could vaguely recognize as hers, suddenly came to an abrupt end. They waited as the time seemed to stretch to see if it would come back, but when it didn't they began to argue. They were calling between one another to see who would get over there.

"We can't." Shinji was dragged up into the air as Kensei turned his full glare onto him. "Ya wantta go deal wit' Aizen then? Be ma guest."

Kensei dumped the man in revulsion and turned back over to eye the scene, but he made no look to move. He wasn't the only one. The rest had turned into frozen statues, and they dunked their heads to the ground. Let the dirt soak in the moisture as it was meant to do.

Across the camp, the Shinigami were also receiving treatments. All heads picked up at the shudder. There was a moment of dishing out respect for the blast, but then it died down. It started with the division four people beginning to move. They were more used to hearing and seeing devasting attacks and then getting back to work. This was their training.

The other captains had a hard time remaining still, but there eyes disappeared from the sight as the light flickered off. Where, the three remaining oldest captains were gathered together was where the most rustle came from. They had known her for longer of course. Known her in more intimate ways than the Shinigamis outside the tent.

The three too had felt the shudder, but they could not visually make out the blast from behind the curtain walls. They did however, feel the suction of the winds movements as the blast came through it. Kyoraku was stumbling to his feet in shock and teetering into a distressed Ukitake who had taken the man by the arms. The brown-haired man attempted to get away from the grip, but he was taken down to the ground by his already coughing friend.

"Calm yourself Shunsui." The old man kept his two eyes on his old students as the reiatsus from that area were breaking down.

"Yam—"

"If it's an end, it will be a fitting one."

The silence beckoned in the end of the small trail of her reiatsu. Kyoraku slumped down and dumped his head onto the ground. His hands tugged onto Ukitake, clenching into his robe, as the white-haired man bent over to kneel beside him. Kyoraku stared aimlessly up at the tent roof, warily taking in the cloth that was above his head. He breathed slowly, staring at the never end shade of off-white above him.

All the groups in the fake Karakura Town felt when Gin had disappeared, which meant that Aizen was now officially in the human world. Then they felt the disappearance of Ichigo. Yet, there was nothing they could do but send out hopes and prayers to the boy to get the job done. The silence came to reigh over that entire area. It felt like the first of many. Though all would note that it was odd to hear the few chirping birds, and the whistles of the wind from an area that had destroyed life, not allowed it to inhabit the place.

Sometime later it was the Vizards that heard the shout from a long-time comrade. Yoruichi was coming through, hoisting a limp form in her arms. It was Lisa that had staggered off to help collect the form and get the cat-captain further to the group, and Love that helped Yoruichi over.

When Lisa looked down, she saw nothing of the former captain that she had secretly come to respect. She couldn't make out the woman that her own former captain had fallen in love with. Here was the final composite of a broken woman that had been destroyed by both sides; the society that she had given her life to and the enemy that had cut her down. The normally stoic woman found her hands gripping tighter to the thighs and to the shoulder that she clung to.

When Lisa set down the limp form, Unohana broke from her concentration on Hiyori for the first time, but only for moments. As soon as she commanded, more than a few medical aids came sprinting up and huddled around the woman. The wounded's chest had practically concaved and split open. Her leg nearly twisted in reverse. Her head was banged at the back. Her reiatsu was so low that it flickered like a flame about to be snuffed out.

"She wasn't breathing." Yoruichi gasped out, finally pulling enough lungs into her body. She had been shunpoing as fast she could to get her friend over here. "Not breathing and her reiatsu was basically just a string."

The rest of the Vizards that were mobile, or had enough want to do so, had huddled up around the woman and were seeking information. Yoruichi had done a quick resuscitation for her friend; forcing a painful amount of reiatsu into her body to get the body to start working again. It wouldn't have worked at all, if not for the tiny dot Yoruichi had been able to make out.

"She was basically dead."

"And Kisuke?" Shinji asked, noting that the tag along blonde was also no where to be found.

"Fine. - Gone to Soul Society to help Ichigo out."

The cat shook her head and watched as the medics began to travel away with her other friend. Her eyes narrowed, and as she closed them, fell from her seated position to a lay down. She did her best to shift out the empty carcass that she felt she had been lugging, and remember the woman that Yoruichi called her partner. She opened her eyes up to the sky and titled towards the sun.

Across the healing campus, Kyoraku jarred awake from his sleeping stance that he had taken up. It was probably only Ukitake that could notice the every once in a while quivers, and the never revealed eyes that probably held something akin to angry devastation. Yet, Kyoraku let the man stay by his side in solidarity to the fact that it probably felt like losing a daughter to the white-haired man. She had never looked young to them, coming into the ranks as a full-fledged woman in appearance, but she was fostered and grown before them, though in two completely separate directions.

Kyoraku found himself sitting up and looking at the new medic team that was placing up a station. He had memorized that reiatsu so frequently, bringing it up to his mind at every chance that he could, and now it lay just before him. When he rose to his feet, Ukitake came with him and the two made there way as quickly as possible over to the station.

"Oh…"

Words trailed off his tongue as Ukitake caught a glimpse at his former third seat. Upon seeing her all semblenace of language just seemed to disappear. There were no words that could ever describe it. His eyes fluttered over towards his brown-haired colleague and grasped him by the shoulders. With a few tugs he got the man to move and the disappeared from the tent again without the medics even noticing they were there in the first place.

"There's no need to see that Shunsui."

As soon as the words fell from Ukitake's mouth, his friend was kneeling down and settling back onto his back. The snowy-haired captain turned to see that they had only made it a few paces, but he bit his tongue from saying anything more. He came down and settled into a seat next to him. They would wait as close as they dared for her to come around again, because that's what they had always done when she was injured.

It was the downside of having a physical type zanpakuto. While her zanpakuto provided a good semblance of protection if she couldn't avoid the attack, and could bring her hands around it, her body was often damaged. The two had gotten used to visiting her at the med bay at times, though they always found her shining eyes already open when they came through the doors or down the halls.

"Neh Jushiro," Ukitake looked to his friend, whose gaze was not moving amongst the clouds this time. Though, he had come to slip back on the mask, nothing hid the all knowing signs from the old friend. "Tea would be really nice right now."

"It would Shunsui. It really would."

 _Come on Yuko-chan._ Ukitake called back for the prone woman that he had seen in his head. _You said it would all return back to normal_

The first thing that I recognized was not the sun, hands, or even the wind. It was the thought that I was crying. It had started as a question: "Why was a tear on my face?". Then, "what is a tear?" and "how did I know there was this thing called a tear on my face?" In my mind I could make out the image of someone brushing it away, but in reality it hardened on my face and made it stiff.

I had always found it odd that I died on a plain of ice. In the winter when the earth dies, so did I. I came back to life, in the spring. In the spring when the earth comes back to life, I found a beating heart. It took a year's revolution for me to understand what an existence was, although I didn't come to much.

I was poor thing of a girl that wandered around with a slip for a covering, and bare feet. I was thin as a rail, and looked more like a rat since I was immediately searching for any food that I could find. It was the only way to settle my stomach, which would clench when there wasn't something in it for days on end. I found that out through a process of trail and error, and passing out more times in a month than I had ever done in recent years.

Back then, I had also come to existence with a tear on my face. I cried when I found Kumo for the first time. I cried at having to face a moment without him, and then I cried at the end of my existence in soul society. I didn't cry when I made it out of the Maggot's Nest, and, perhaps, that was because I was not really leaving it behind. I was just continuing where I had left off one hundred years earlier, just with more people on my side instead of against it.

Now, I cried when I awoke again. It started with that droplet, and then my eyes slowly came come. I kept seeing flashes of black, but through the daze I could make out the light that was above me. It was not the sun for it was not warm. However, it was light from the darkness that I didn't even remember seeing. I just knew that I was in light and coming out from darkness.

My heart skyrocketed after that. There was something down my throat and I attempted to claw to get at the monster that was around my face. The sounds of something beeping where not helping, as my heart just went along with the new rate. It made everything worse, and my head was spinning because I couldn't get air, and I couldn't get the thing from my face.

I didn't hear the door open, but I felt the hands that were fastening me down to the bed. I struggled against them, until I saw the image of a woman that I knew. With her black hair, parted down the middle, and creating a long braid down her between the valley of her breasts. Her eyes softened up and she gave me a smile that softened the edges of my body.

"Yuko-san." I could finally hear through the beating of my own heart. "I need you to get as relaxed as possible."

I shuffled down and the hands finally released me. They stayed close, always hovering, but I could do this. I pressed my head into the pillow and then launched as much thought into getting my body to lay back. I started with the shoulders, and then worked my way all the way down to my feet. I curled everything up for a moment, and then released it with one last blow.

Unohana nodded as she examined the way I moved, before turning up towards me. She placed her hands onto my chest and it was then that I remembered that it had concaved. Yet, here I was feeling her fingers as if nothing had happened. My eyes closed at the sensations that I had never thought I would feel again. Perhaps, that had been why I was crying in the first place.

"Yuko-san?" I opened my eyes and blinked up at the woman who wiped her worried expression with another smile. "I'm going to take ventilator off. Your lungs should be able to function normally."

I nodded and she made quick work of getting the machine up and out of my throat. It rubbed up a lot of mucus and saliva that I was gagging on. She helped me to sit and then soothed away at the pain that was there, getting me to spit, and then to take in deep breathes. I followed the tapping that she was having me go to pace myself, and then when she told me, sucked in my own first breathe.

The air of the fourth division smelt like flowers and medicine. It almost had the smell of cleaning supplies, since everything was always washed down in the place, but it was so far gone this time. My nose unconsciously sought out the smell of everything I had spat out, and I wrinkled up my face in protest. I did not need something disgusting to be my first smell, so I focused on the flowers in the room. Someone had once again remembered that I adored lilies. They were sat far away from me, but my memory helped to impregnant the scent a bit more so that I could feel it just underneath my nose.

"Do you think you could speak?"

I grunted and cleared out my throat before opening up, "Unohana-taicho." It was a thick and rough and didn't really sound like my voice. It had broken several times and sent me into a coughing fit at the motions. Swallowing didn't help either, since everything had been left raw inside and my saliva only cessed upon it to make me more uncomfortable.

The captain placed her hand onto my throat, and then asked me to repeat it again, and again. Then I was talking. Hearing words coming from my mouth was a strange thing. I was more aware of every move my mouth seemed to be making. More aware of how every word seemed to sound, now that I was out of being deaf.

Then I was being told information about the battle. I was surprised that she would offer up the information so freely, given that when I was released after my one hundred year stint she hadn't wanted me to know immediately. I siphoned the information from Kyoraku and Ukitake who had also come to visit. This time, I absorbed it straight from her.

I was laid back and then shown the doors back to sleeping. Unohana didn't need to say much, my body did it all, but she bide me a nice departure even still. "Sweet dreams."


	51. Chapter 50

**A/N: So this is the final chapter as I mentioned before. Please comment/review about this story or if you want to read the companion stories that I've written out.**

 **Thank you all so much again for your continued interest!**

I was not allowed back to the human world yet. I was told that the vizards were all healed up, and that they returned by themselves. It was the same for both Kisuke and Yoruichi. Isshin had a family to get back to, so I hadn't expected him to stay at all. I wanted to see all of them again. I wanted to know that they were actually okay, and for them to know that I too was actually okay. Those were the ones I wanted to celebrate with.

It didn't feel like much of a victory, not with the way that everyone was prancing around and getting work done. Soul Society was focusing on recooperation and getting everything back to running. As for the higher up Shinigami, they were all training. I could make out all the types of reiatsu that were going off across different sectors of Seireitei. It was like the time before the war, except now they understood more properly the goal that actually lay ahead.

I sighed and raked a hand over my hair before turning up towards the sky. Honestly I was surprised that I was being left alone. Mayuri hadn't seemed to take any interest in me, though I was thankful for that. None of the other Shinigami seemed to think twice about my presence, and the Sou-taicho had yet to call me in for a meeting. I was just ambling my way through everyday. It was odd not to be obligated to do anything. What had I used to do with my time here on days off?

 _You went to Ukitake's._

 _…_ _That's true…. Say Kumo, you know what would be really nice right now?_

 _What is that, Ayake-sama?_

 _Some nice jazz music._

 _…_ _Go escape to the human world and track down Shinji then._

I huffed out a few laughs before leaping into the air. There was one person that I could actually see myself celebrating with. I hadn't been straight out avoiding him. He had stayed far away to let me come to him when I wanted to. He had always been that way, that damn infernal pervert of a captain.

I clung to the trace of his reiatsu and let it drag me to where I could find him. It didn't take long, for he was on the roofs of his own division. I landed on the tiles and eyed out his frame. He was resting back, with his hands under his arms, hat tilted over his forehead, and legs crossed as if he was sitting on a chair. His usual pink kimono was spying out from his back.

Slowly I edged my way up closer to him. I knew that he knew it was me from the moment I had landed. Perhaps, from even further back. Yet he made no signs that he was going to speak to me or to acknowledge me in any sort of way.

My heart grew twelve sizes to big for my chest, and as it attempted to keep beating the blood it caused rumbles to go through me. I was stifled from calling out to him, to see if he would acknowledge me, by the clog in my throat. Quivers raked all through my body, wanting me to go tumbling down from the roof. I felt young again, as heat pooled onto my cheeks. These were all the signs that I had lived, and I could get myself breathing from that thought.

"Kyoraku?"

His hat shifted back immediately and he turned his head slightly to see me. We stared long and hard at each other, before he brought his hand out for me. I took a few more steps, and finally came to sit next to him. His hand thumped onto the tiles, in mild protestation, as I ignored it.

"Yuko-chan is being mean again?"

I glanced at him from the side of my eye to make out that soft grin on his face. His thick eyebrows were slanted the opposite way in that calm expression, and his eyes were not half-lidded but not open fully. The cold glint I had seen during the war was gone, leaving them the shade of chocolate that I had first seen all those years ago.

Slowly my eyes traveled down to where his heart was beating in his chest. It lay under the folds of three layers of clothing, curly hairs, and heated skin. Prickled by the small memory of what it had been like, my hand reached out and I slowly slide my fingers over the spot I had been watching. The fabric of the shihakusho was rough in its wariness of age, but the skin lit me on fire. The hairs came slinking through the small gaps between my fingers, but the skin was warm and tender beneath my touch.

"If you do that, Yu—"

I turned my gaze up to him and the words cut off. I tilted my head slightly before moving closer towards him. My hand pressed harder down on the spot and I could feel the sensation of his heart beneath my hand. Subconsciously my heart came to beat at his own rhythm, and it sent a pleasant calmness through me.

"You won't control yourself, Kyoraku?"

"I won't be able to."

I picked my hand up and brought it close to my eyes at it clenched and unclenched before me. It still tingled from having caressed him, and there was a warmth that still burned. It was odd to see that the very same tool that killed was suddenly holding onto life. Then again, Kumo was a crawling paradox. Everything was doubles for us like that. The hand that feeds is equally the hand that takes. We're always in control.

"Kyoraku." I pulled my hand down and turned over to the man. He turned his head more fully towards me. It was actually rather disappointing that he had found a replacement for his hat so soon. Although, it had been three weeks since the war had ended. "Do you want to know something?"

"Hm~ I always listen to my lovely Yuko-chan."

My words faltered slightly and I stared off wondering if it was even worth doing this. I stared into his face trying to draw out the answers that I wanted. Yet there was nothing but a curiously cool face that offered no solutions. My heart raged deeply through my ears. When the heart normally pumps this hard it causes adrenaline, but this time I felt the prickling sensation at the back of my eyes. I swallowed back at the knot in my throat and then turned to look at the man.

"I really can't call you by your first name."

 _You liar, Ayake-sama._

 _Shush, Kumo._

I was thankful that I didn't hear Ichi calling out for me at that moment, because hearing that voice would have been a bit too much. She lacks tack. I turned back over to the captain before I could wander to far afield in my thoughts. The man's eyebrows furrowed and he slowly sat up and leaned back upon his hands. His lips collected into a pout, and my eyes had to flicker away.

"Why ever not?"

"That," the words cut off again and I huffed slightly to break the clog. I slapped habitually at Kyoraku's rising hand that was making its way up to my ankle. "That's private."

I didn't bother to have my eyes wander back over to him. I heard the smallest of mumbles before he took me up in his grasp. I found myself settled down in his lap, with one hand on my thigh and the other around my neck. He loomed closer and dragged the limbs across what had already become my skin, since I could make out his touch through the fabric. My hands quivered and nestled deeper into my top, pressing hard and hard down on my stomach to try and stop the eruptions from occurring.

"When did you get so nervous around me, Yuko-chan?" The wind behind his words brushed up against me. His hands slide further along my body collecting me closer and closer to his chest. "I know you like being in control… But you don't need to be nervous."

I uncuddled my hands and propped them up on his chest. As he pulled me in, I slunk my arm around his shoulder, letting that be the only vulnerable part to the outside world. I ducked my head and splayed it into his collarbone; my cheek rest there and breathing in his scent deeply. I pressed my torso right up against his, feeding the pace of my heart to him, and latched my hand to a place just under his neck. My other hand came and clung onto his side, where it remained hidden by his captain's haori.

In the mean time, his hands traveled criss crossing each other. It sent red hot flares down my entire body that had my eyes closing at the sensation. The hand that had been on my neck, crossed down to hold onto my hip. The other traveled up along my leg, along my side, barely passing the curve of my breast, and then clutching down on my shoulder. His nose feasted into my hair, before I felt the faint brushing of his lips against the parts of my forehead that he could get to.

"Are you scared of me, Yuko-chan?"

"Terrified." I whispered out for just his ears, as he had done for just mine. "Like you said, I have a thing for control."

His hum pulsed and I found him jarring our position slightly to move me about. He pushed me up so that my head was climbing above his own. Slowly his hands came to travel around so that he was fastened to my hips. I hooked onto his shoulders, since the trembling had started up again. The open air was not helping me at all. I'd rather be suffocated by the man in secrecy than have to deal with the outside world like this.

I could feel the burn of his eyes, but I didn't dare look down. I stared adamantly at the branch that contained the stillness that I sought after. In a flourish, I was taken back into his arms and he was jumping away. We landed not seconds later in the clearing that we had both come to know. He settled me onto my feet slowly, keeping an arm around me with a small smirk coming to his face at the actions.

"Shut up you dumb pervert."

"Now, now, Yuko-chan. No need for anger… You're as cute as ever like this." His hand collected around my waist and pulled me into him, as soon as we were sat again since my legs were not working properly. My leg was just acting up from the injury, though the comment only had Kumo snickering in my ears. "Like a baby fawn."

"Do you realize how uncomfortable this is for me?" I pulled back slightly and his hand automatically gave way, falling onto his lap. His other reached on top to scrub his head, hat already discarded. His eyes fell heavily on my face, and I pulled it back to give a bit more distance. "I've always found it uncomfortable."

"Why?"

"I grew up in a brothel." Nails hooked onto my eyes and splayed them wide open and I choked out a cough turning my head away. "I mean… I wasn—I didn't do that sort of stuff. I –"

"I already knew."

My necked popped as I turned it too quickly. It was an unusually hard burst and I hunkered down into my shell so that I could start rubbing out at the tense cartiledge. Kyoraku tried to push my hands away to get at the muscles there, but I slapped them away. The two of us fussed over the muscles, him whining and me scolding, until I was crawling a bit away so that I could fix the tension.

He latched onto me immediately, and it was definitely the shock that didn't have me fighting at him. He grabbed onto my ankle and slid me back. The surprising force had my balance thrown off and tilted a bit too far onto my side to get a good look at the man. With a tiny shove and a roll, he got me on my backside, where he locked me down.

"Do you want to know why you're nervous Yuko-chan?" One thick hand came and wrapped from the middle of my sternum all the way around my rib cage, closing at it, while his other came to my neck gently messaging in. He tipped my neck forward so that I could see him, but I was watching as he settled close between my splayed knees. "Do you?"

My eyes flickered up to the eyes that seemed to furthest part away from me. The quivers were already coming back, and I felt them disperse into torents of flames through my veins. My hands locked down into the ground and grass, digging tiny holes as I sunk deeper and deeper into them. The thought of squeezing my knees together, and bringing him closer so that I could wrap my calves around his back, picked my heart into a cacophony of unpleasant beatings. His hand quietly shifted further around my back and he slowly came to pick me up again.

I dragged the dirt up with me as I was forced to straddle his kneeling thighs. Each finger pressed me closer and closer, and I moved to wrap my hands onto his biceps. His other hand made work with rolling out the bushes of muscles in my neck, whilst moving my head so that I would stay focused on him though he never specified which part. I swallowed down and worked at getting my tongue to move about.

I tucked into darkness, but his voice called me back immediately with a tiny shake and his disapproval. My breath stolen by the sudden drop in his hand down to the curve of my lower back. The blood from my body rocketing to my cheeks, and I did my best to just cling. My eyes took in his thickened smirk on his face, and the way his eyes started a dawdling leer around my face.

When a chuckle from deep within his chest, came it muffled out the rest of the sensations by my ears. His nose dipped and his drew small lines of my cheek, before his lips came right by my ears. "Do you want to know, beautiful?"

He pulled back just enough to see the duck of my head. He shifted me up closer, pushing me up with the hand that was basically brushing over the top rim of my behind. I squirmed slightly but he chided, and squeezed my neck slightly as he turned it back up to him. Nonetheless, he moved his hand over to the other hip, so his arm was crossed diagonally along my lower back.

"Because I learnt you." My eyes furrowed and I leant back into the web of his arms. The hand by my neck came down to my collar bown and traced out a line until it came to lay flat on top of my sternum. "It was all a game, Yuko-chan. - I won."

"What?" I finally bite out, feeling the blood stop rushing through my ears. My hands coming to grip down on his biceps.

Kyoraku blinked a few times before he clutched just a bit tighter, and then smiled. "I worded that wrong."

"I certainly hope so."

My eyes tore open as I was suddenly placed on my back again with the man hovering over me. Kyoraku wasted no time in locking me back into his gaze. He came in close again and rested his lips right by my ear. "The game of seduction, Yuko-chan. – Those men you knew as a child, could never do this to you."

His lips ran down the side of my face, across my cheek, although he never gave me a single kiss. I attempted to twist my head slightly, but he nudged it with his nose to keep me facing the other way. I stayed within his ploy, letting him start his whispers over there to calm the rage of my blood again. Whether it was from the bad wording or the new sensations, I didn't know.

"Your blood running, heart beating, skin tingling…. I learnt how to seduce you Yuko-chan. Those men can't do what I can, because I know you intimately. I seduced you; mind and body. – You gave yourself to me."

"Have I?"

His head propped and that sinister smirk was back on his face. I watched as he flickered into another type of man above me. One of his hand came out and slowly picked up my left hand and brought it up so that I could feel the warm breath against them. His long fingers loitered over ever single knuckle, drawing out smooth lines before he finally settled a kiss on top of the tingling skin. Brown eyes preened as they looked down at me.

"I know you like a slow seduction." His voice sounded out through my palm as he had switched my hand over and left a prickle of his lips there. "You get caught up in the feelings, don't you?"

My hand fell with a small flop onto my chest, and he came down closer, until I was baring his weight. My bottom lip gently came to a quiver, as he used his hand to shift the top of the shihakusho open just slightly. Then as he breathed right at the crook of my neck, that same hand came around my ribs again. It pressed down to let me know that it was there, and then inched around my waist, and then came around to travel up through the valley of my breasts before stopping down right at my heart.

I felt the smirk that grew along the exposed skin that he pressed his cheek to. "Hm~ How fast, Yuko-chan…. You don't like going in for the direct touch. You like the foreplay much better."

I was jolted back into my body. I had focused so much on how he was moving, I hadn't even felt the pick of my breath, and the rate of my own heart. I felt my body sagging into the ground, and tiredness from the warmth that seemed to eminante from right inside me. My hands had fisted into the flower kimono that he adorned, keeping his equally strapped to me, as he kept me bolted to the forest floor.

Just as my hand was going to slip into his hair, he picked up his head and came back to his hovering position, with his two hands by the sides of my head. His eyes flickered over to the hand that had been risen by a ghost, as it immediately coiled and went back down. When he came to stare back at my eyes, he grinned like a boy receiving a present; all the contours of his normally sharpened face softening.

"I'm very happy with my prize… Especially if you look at me like that Yuko-chan."

He brought the two of us to a sitting position, and set me between his two legs hiding my smaller frame in the warm darkness; his front to my back. His two feet clapped together in front of me. He rested his two arms on my body; tying me close to his chest. Then his back hunched forward slightly and I felt the pressure of his body against my shoulders. His head came dipping down, until it was snuggling up against the fuzzy hairs on my head, and then he sunk just that little bit deeper.

"Kyoraku?"

"Hm~?"

"How long have you known?" My fingers reached down to the grass and twisted it around and around.

The man let out a sigh and took his head from mine own so that he could get a good view of my face. I took the opportunity to switch the position slightly, and turned sideways so that my right shoulder was against his chest. My legs fell over his left thigh, and my feet slowly flicked at the captains' haori. He had opened to let me move and then immediately came curling in again; one arm around my waist, the other high around my shoulder.

"I've known I was in love with you for a long time, Yuko-chan." I took my eyes from the shadows that were around my feet, up to his eyes. His eyes flashed in pleasure, and a tiny smile came to face though it took up his entire face. It was not loud in its brilliance, but soft and warm. "I've known you were in love with me just before you became fuku-taicho."

"What?"

He let out a few snickers, taking my face into a hand and rubbing against the cheek. "I had a feeling that it was the case then but when you became captain I was absolutely sure…. It was too cute watching you figure it out."

I coughed out a few syllables before I whacked at his chest. He chuckled again and rubbed at the spot that was already gain a bright red spot. "Cute? Aish, you're a horrible man, Kyoraku."

"Yare~ so cruel, Yuko-chan… How about my first name?"

"Absolutely not."

I didn't even bother anymore. A week later had found me with little time away from the brown-haired captain. It was the same as the stalking incident all those years ago. I'd turn a corner he'd be there. I'd enter a room he'd be there. I'd be simply walking, he'd show up. However this time, immediately he'd cling onto me. If we weren't in a relatively closed off area, then he'd whisk us away until we were. The man had grown more and more clinging when I had gone from smacking to downright refusing to allow him to hold me. Then, I just gave up.

I had gone to Ukitake's for tea, seeing as he finally had a moment when he wasn't busy. He'd been spending plenty of time trying to administer work and routine through his more than frequent visits to the fourth division. He's wound was healed over, but it had sent him down a bad spiral. Not to the point of being bedridden, but his lungs had been deeply effected by the blow.

Now, over a half hour in to the relaxing time, Kyoraku had shown up with his gallant smile on his face. I sighed and rolled my head back so that it rested on my own shoulders. Then, I slipped back and lay down across the veranda, letting out a few more huffs. I hadn't gotten around to telling Ukitake about my slight problem with his friend. I had found it immensely awkward to bring up the confession from a week ago, and I didn't really know how to broach the topic. Now, he'd be getting it full blown in his face.

My eyes came open and I stared straight up at Kyoraku, who had yet to take a seat. He was leaning over, his ponytail over his shoulder, and his arms safely tucked into his sleeves for now. That calm smile of his slowly came out into a grin, and his eyes crinkled up. Then he swooped me up into his arms, until he settled in the spot I was, where he sat me on his leg.

I shut my eyes and just dumped my head right onto his shoulder, since it was in range. Flinging one arm around so that it dangling off the same place, I huffed and slouched more into him. His hand came up and rested on ribs, tentatively bringing pressure to them.

It seemed that he had to always be checking the area. I assumed it was from the fact that he had seen me after the fight with Aizen. Unohana had given me a decent idea of what had happened, and my own imagination filled in the details well enough. It did not make for a pretty picture. Although it had been Yoruichi that had found me immediately after the battle and brought me to safety, Unohana warned me that a majority of the captains, including Ukitake and Kyoraku, had seen me during my first day of recovery in the field. It was a completely open area, and there was no way to really restrict anyone's access to the place.

When I had run into Ukitake the first time after I was released, he was very cautious about hugging me. He kept nearly an inch between my shoulders and his arms, leaving his natural pleasantness to fill in the space that was between our bodies. Kyoraku had taken the more aggressive road of just constantly checking that my ribs were, in fact, in tact. No matter what, he'd always find a way to touch the rib cage, and my sternum several times during the course of the day.

"Is this a thing now?" Ukitake questioned.

My eyes peered open and I caught the very openly amused expression on his face. His lips were trembling from well hidden laughter but it was slowly being released. He spluttered and clapped his cup into the dish, before letting out heaving laughs. It was so hard that his head tilted back and his long hair was laying on top of the floor.

Kyoraku's shoulders jumbled my head a bit, and it had me twisting a bit further towards his neck. He took the move pleasantly, moving his hand into my hair, whilst his other kept me on his leg by holding to my hip. My eyes shut closed again and I began by drawing patterns on his back; tracing out a flower that probably didn't even match the design.

 _You're enjoying this Ayake-sama._

 _Stop laughing Kumo._

 _…_ _You're hardly threatening like that._

 _Stop keeping me honest._

 _Someone has to… I'm glad that you can receive comfort from him._

I picked my hand up and brought it to slap him over the side of his head. While I had been zoned out slightly talking to Kumo, he had gone and made more than a few sexual comments to Ukitake. I picked my head up, and then clamped onto his cheek and began to tug. Kyoraku let out more than a few whines before I was let the skin smack back to his mouth.

"Who have you dominated over Kyoraku?"

He pouted and ducked his head, whilst bringing his hand to rub at his cheek. "No one."

"Good. – You have more than once called me dangerous, so I'd be careful about what you say."

"Are you going to do something about it?"

My eyes flickered between the two of his own. His face had remained in a pout, though it had moved on to almost a childish protestation as his lips pursed and he raised his eyebrows in disbelief. My head slowly tilted and then I gave me a wicked smirk that had his shoulders arching backwards so that he was sitting up straighter.

I slowly moved my hand and crawled it along his neck, raking my fingernails against the skin and not the pads of my fingers. Goosebumps immediately appeared as I traveled up, and then I flexed my hand against the contours of his left cheek. Running my thumb against the skin, I moved a touch closer so that one breast was just grazing over his body. It brought my head just by his ear, and I slowly funneled out a light breeze just on the curve of his jaw.

My lips trailed up and then hovered over his ear. "Do you really think I couldn't?"

I slipped from his arms and the seat that I was perched on, and somersaulted right over his shoulder. Then I skidded around quickly and came to the opposite side of a snickering Ukitake. The white haired captain had taken to hiding his face with the sleeves of his tops but it did nothing for the tiny tears and the jerking shoulders.

To finish off the taunt, I sent Kyoraku a wink. My eyes wander over the gobsmacked expression on his face; with his jaw hanging off the hinge slightly, and his two eyes widened out of their normal half-lids. I could remember the skin that I had left being raised and prickled by the sensation, and the faint beat of his heart coming through my own chest.

"Yuko-chan, that was a bit harsh, don't you think?" Ukitake finally choked out, wiping at the tears.

I smiled up at the man, and shook my head. "He's been stalking me again, and cuddling whenever he gets the chance. – I need to put him in his place, you know."

 _Not that you don't love the cuddling, Ayake-sama._

 _Shut up, Kumo._

 _…_ _. Of course~_

Kumo's snickers faded slightly and I tilted my head with a faux innocent look. I brought my eyebrows down and in, raising them just slightly as well, and then tucked my lips into a pout. Then I pointed one measly finger at the white haired man, and stated, "I wasn't being that mean, was I?"

"I think," Ukitake shuffled a hand over onto his friends shoulder and then turned back to me, "you may have broken him slightly."

Ukitake and I went straight into a banter, while Kyoraku was shaking himself out of his dream. Slowly he came through, and placed his chin into his hand. He was watching us steadily, and made no attempt to enter the conversation. He just let his calm smile grow along his face, and as such we let him go down whatever path his mind had taken.

Our conversation went to happier things, mainly the restoration of Seireitei. It did take a slight turn when I brought up how the Sou-taicho was finally letting me take a trip down to Karakura Town. He had soften on me just slightly since I had nearly died in the war. He gifted me with a two week trip down to be with the others that I had also called family. I'd finally be getting that celebration that I had wanted in my soul, with the men and women that I had shared the start of the story with one hundred years ago.

"Yuko-chan?"

 _Eh?_

I rose my hand up to my cheek and touched at it. As I withdrew, the tear made its way from the tip of my forefinger, all the way down until it dripped off the precipice and onto the veranda. I stared at where the drop had been in shock, and then took it back to my face to feel that more tears had come to my eyes.

 _I'm not even sad_

My heart clenched up slightly and I covered up my mouth to keep the sob in my throat. I leant forward and wrapped my other hand around my torso slightly. The pressure tore through my chest and I let out a small heave of air before sucking it back in. More tears raced down, and my lips shuddered. I clenched my eyes shut and focused on taking the pressure away.

"I see." Ukitake had placed his hand on my back and started rubbing.

My eyes took his slightly blurred frame, as I felt Kyoraku take me into his arms. I snuggled deeper into them, and brought my hands to clench onto his sleeves. Now that he could hold me, there was no need to hold myself.

Ukitake tipped over slightly and patted at my leg that was still sprawled out, before sending me a warm smile. "Let it go."

"What?" the words quivered along with my face.

As if struck, Kyoraku tucked me even closer and dropped his head, so that his nose was just along my scalp. His lips made soft brushes as he spoke. "Now's a perfect time to cry, beautiful."

 _That's right._

I cried when I woke up thinking I was still on a plain of ice. I cried when I found Kumo for the first time. I cried at having to let go over everything and lay shut up at the cell for so long. The history clung to my shoulders when I left. So, now, I could finally cry leaving the dust of history somewhere in my wake, but the memory simmer to nothing but an impress on my brain. Time was a strange thing that moved forward, even when you didn't even notice it running along.


	52. Preview

**A/N:**

 **Hello everyone! I am pleased to announce that I have decided to release my companion story to "Building a Home". I'm hoping to start posting the story sometime soon; maybe around the end of February or sometime in march. If you enjoyed "Building a Home" please consider giving this new story a shot. Ayake Ichiyuko will feature in it as well, but it is centered around a entirely new OC.**

 **Here's the tiniest of sneak peaks to the new story as I really don't want to give anything away. Keep your eyes peeled for _"Dynasty"_ and I really hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. **

**Leave any comments/messages that you want (even critiques). I'm always thrilled to be hearing from you all and I enjoy feedback so that I can improve.**

A snippet from "Dynasty"

1

"You know, I didn't mention it but that –"

"It's fine." Yoruichi cut through already knowing where Kukaku was heading with her statement. "I've got someone on the inside that will help."

"Oh?" The woman let out a quivering smirk and raised an eyebrow as she tipped another cup of sake down her throat. "Can you trust them?"

"Of course…. So long as we don't interrupt her nap, I suppose."

Kukaku puffed a small bit of air in disbelief and her lips opened in something between suppressed amusement and tentative knowing. She tipped her head over the black cat that was still nursing its tail from the hard hold the orange boy had had on it, before shifting her head back over to the moon that had already risen high above them.

"You're sure she'll help out?"

Yoruichi tucked her head down and then followed through with the rest of her body as came to a lie down. Her gold eyes maneuvered over the dispossessed woman, who was still tucked slightly into her memories, and then back over to the night before them. "She's come through time and time again for Kisuke and me."

"That's good then… But will she really go against her captain? You know better than me how devoted Shinigami are."

"She's probably caught onto our plan with how information spreads around the Seireitei and Kisuke probably gave her a heads up too." Yoruichi tipped her head slightly and caught Kukaku's gaze. "She'll help out."

"So long as she's not napping?"

"Exactly."

Kukaku let out another snort at the idea, before raising out her last cup of sake to the bitter night. "You Shinigami have the oddest habits."

"I don't think you can really talk Kukaku-kun."

"Not sure what you're talking about Yoruichi."


End file.
